Manston out-performed by a small hole in the ground

Sad but true. The numbers are in on this summer's Open Golf Championship at Sandwich, and they make good reading for the county. The direct economic boost and indirect benefit of TV coverage are valued at £77 million.

Each Open venue hosts the tournament about every ten years, so the once-a-decade display of supreme skill at the stick-ball-hole game works out at some £7.7 million a year of identifiable benefit to Kent.

Manston's latest night flight proposal rather optimistically assesses the airport's current contribution to the local economy at £3.8 million a year - less than half the impact of the Open even when the Open isn't on!

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