The Tour of Britain won’t be coming to Newtown this year, but officials say its impact last September boosted the local economy by £700,000.
More than 35,000 cycle enthusiasts visited Powys during last year’s Tour of Britain, according to a report.
And while it won’t be coming to the area this September, Powys County Council officials say they will hold talks to bring it back in 2016.
The Frontline’s economic impact assessment of the Tour of Britain 2014 showed that 70,000 people, mostly from outside of the county, visited stage three of the tour which started in Newtown and ended in Abergavenny.
Many businesses in the town benefited from the hundreds of people who lined the streets to see the start of Stage 3 in the town centre.
Powys County Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Avril York said; “The findings of the economic impact report shows the value to the county of these high profile events.
“The financial boost to local businesses during the few hours that the event is in Powys is quite remarkable and fully justifies the efforts taken to attract the race to Powys.
“The event also provides a huge opportunity to showcase the beauty of the county. Last year the event produced three hours of live coverage attracting more than 500,000 viewers, overall coverage was broadcasted by 16 companies with world-wide audience of 206million.
“Of the visitors who came to Powys 18 per cent stayed overnight with an average spend in the county of nearly £90, even with those who just visited for the day the average spend for a group was just over £50.”
She added: “It is also pleasing to see from survey feedback that the Powys event will have a lasting impact on residents’ health with an impressive 61 per cent saying the day inspired them to take up cycling in the future.
“It is disappointing that the race will not visit Powys this year, it has been in the county for five years in a row so we can’t be greedy, but we are try to negotiate its return for 2016,”she added.
Photographs: The Tour of Britain in Newtown last September ©Owain Betts