The study on the economic significance of ISOs in the Alpine nation known for its banks, timepieces and neutrality, values sports bodies’ overall impact on the Swiss economy at SFr1.07 billion (£740 million/$1.10 billion/€1.03 billion) a year.

Conducted by the Lausanne-based International Academy of Sports Science and Technology (AISTS) and based on data covering the 2008-13 period, the study puts ISOs’ contribution in the Swiss canton of Vaud at SFr550 million (£382 million/$565 million/€527 million) and in the region of the Olympic capital, Lausanne, at SFr 250 million (£174 million/$256 million/€240 million).

The document, which was commissioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the city of Lausanne and the canton of Vaud, assesses the proportion of ISOs’ overall economic impact attributable to the IOC and its financially-supported ISOs at 78 per cent.

It reaches the conclusion that every SFr1 (£0.70/$1.03/€0.96) spent by ISOs in Switzerland creates SFr1.55 (£1.08/$1.59/€1.49)for the Swiss economy.

In 2013, the 45 ISOs surveyed employed more than 2,000 individuals, with close to 65 per cent of these working either for the Lausanne-based IOC, or for football bodies FIFA and UEFA, which are headquartered in Zurich and Nyon respectively.

According to the study, ISOs attract more than 32,000 overnight business visits per year, generating an estimated SFr19 million (£13 million/$20 million/€18 million) annually.

ISOs spent SFr206 million (£143 million/$212 million/€198 million) on construction work in the six-year period covered, producing an overall economic impact in the sector put at SFr366 million (£255 million/$351 million/€376 million).

More than 70 per cent of Swiss residents surveyed were said to feel proud that the IOC headquarters was based in Switzerland.

Publication of the results coincides with the centenary of the IOC’s arrival in Lausanne, at a time when much of Europe was engulfed by war.

The occasion was deemed to merit reproduction of a single sentence of Reuters copy in The Times newspaper of 12 April 1915.

Datelined “Lausanne, April 10”, this stated: “The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee were formally transferred here this morning, and the President of the Swiss Confederation sent a telegram of greeting to the Committee.”

The AISTS study can be downloaded at 
AISTS economic report.pdf


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