THE 2011 British Open Golf Championship held in Sandwich in July boosted the East Kent economy by £21.2 million.

The figures were revealed last Wednesday by Dover District Council and R&A (Royal and Ancient golf club) chief executive Peter Dawson, who commissioned Sheffield Hallam University to crunch the numbers.

The championship injected almost £77m into the county as a whole with £52.6m of that from marketing Kent as a golfing haven and £24.1m from visitor spending, of which £21.2m came direct to East Kent.

Visit Kent had been working on a two-year campaign to promote the county as a golfing destination and says the success of The Open has had a positive impact and created a new "golf coast".

A spokesman said: "The Open was a great opportunity for us to highlight to all the visitors to St George's not only the natural beauty of our countryside and high quality golf courses but all the world-class attractions in the area."

More than 180,000 visitors flocked to Royal St George's during the seven days and witnessed Northern Irishman Darren Clarke lift the coveted Claret Jug.

The Championship is due to return to Sandwich in the next ten years. Plans are already in place to improve traffic flow around the town and help shops make the most of the increased visitors.

Mr Dawson said: "There were a few issues with traffic, but we will learn from this and make changes for when it next comes to Sandwich.

"Overall, the tournament was a huge success, we were brilliantly treated in Sandwich and we look forward to returning."

Dover District Council is delighted with the results which, it says, reflects the hard work put into organise the event with Kent County Council and other partners.

Councillor Nigel Collor, cabinet member and chairman of the Open Golf Executive, added: "The number of visitors to the 2011 Open matched 2003. The introduction of the high speed train service was a great success which we have now implemented full time at Deal and Sandwich. This news, plus the Enterprise Zone at Pfizer site, will bring a much-needed boost to our economy.

"Mistakes were made but we can learn from them and put them right next time."

DDC leader Paul Watkins said: "Attracting the Open Championship is clearly beneficial and we trust it will not be too long before golf's oldest major championship makes a return visit."