GLASGOW could be about to step forward and host its second Commonwealth Games in just 12 years. The Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 event last year, leaving the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) scrambling to find a host at the last-minute for a second consecutive games.
Scotland’s biggest city has tabled a bid to potentially spare the CGFs blushes. But whether the city will be ready in two years’ time is up for debate.
What does this mean for the city from a practical standpoint – and will having the games return so soon after their last visit to Glasgow really attract new interest?
It is important to consider that this is not totally akin to 2014’s festival of sport which gripped Glasgow – this will be a more scaled-back affair, with less sports on show and a reduced monetary outlay, with a maximum budget of £150 million. By comparison, £576.6m was spent the last time Glasgow hosted the games.
Part of why the budget appears to be so small compared to previous is because there will reportedly be no significant draw from the public purse.
However, Green Party councillor Blair Anderson cast doubt over this. He told The Sunday National: “It’s going to put a lot of pressure on the city council and [public] services, be that public transport and things like having more binmen out on the street. “Having people come to Glasgow for a short period of time in such high numbers inevitably puts pressure on the council’s budget.”
A tourist tax?
The Greens’ solution to this is to implement a tourist tax in Scotland’s biggest city, somewhat like what is in place in the likes of Manchester and Berlin.
On this, Anderson added: “If we get a tourist tax, that is going to mean that the visitors who come will pay a relatively small amount of extra money for a hotel, a tiny percentage more that will then go back into the council to fund public services.”
The party will face a battle in getting their proposed tourist levy approved prior to the games kicking off as, typically, there is an 18-month turnaround time from the council agreeing to implement the tax and it coming into force. So, time is ticking if Glasgow hopes to have it in place for summer 2026.
The athletes’ village
One area where Glasgow 2014 left a real legacy was the athletes’ village in Dalmarnock, Anderson explains: “They were good quality homes, and it prompted a bit of regeneration in that area and those homes did end up going to people who are needing housing in Glasgow.”
Major sporting events like the Commonwealth Games attract tourists and visitors from around the globe, so all eyes will be on Glasgow, should it be confirmed that the city will host the event.
Chris Greenwood, a senior research fellow at the Moffat Centre for travel and tourism business development, believes Glasgow is in a good place to host the games.
He said: “Glasgow has hosted a number of significant events. If you think about the UCI World Cycling Championships, the World Indoor Athletics Championships, and even going outside of the sporting arena, the COP26 exhibition that took place.
“All of these do have advantages in terms of bringing people to Glasgow during the actual event, and the media coverage, it promotes Glasgow on a world stage.”
Glasgow has strong infrastructure already in place, with venues such as Tollcross and the Emirates Arena, and a recent track record of hosting global events.
Scottish culture
The event itself may be scaled-back, with fewer sports and a lower budget, however, Greenwood believes that it is important that Glaswegian and Scottish culture plays an important role in attracting international sports fans to the city.
He told The Sunday National: “You can have that scaled-back Commonwealth Games in 2026. But it's also an opportunity to enhance that with the cultural offering that was very clear in 2014 and that's what's going to maybe bring the crowds in.
“You could also maybe extend beyond the period of games, where perhaps people who wouldn't be able to afford to come might come post-games if there was some kind of exhibition or festival that went on afterwards.”
The Commonwealth Games is a much larger undertaking than a simple sporting event. It’s a week-and-a-half long event that takes years of planning. Glasgow may well be ready to host 2026 sport festival at short notice, and its impact could be felt across the city and Scotland as a whole.
