Scotland has been given permission to break away from the UK and submit its own entry to the Eurovision song contest.
The competition's organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), said there was nothing to prevent Scotland from entering on its own merit. It means that broadcasters BBC, ITV, STV and Border Television, which are all members of the EBU, could submit an entry.
S4C is a member of the EBU as well. Wales can enter the Eurovision Song Contest and winning it will bring economic benefit.
The Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Helsinki in May last year, brought 40,000 people from outside the Helsinki region to the Finnish capital. About ten per cent were guests from abroad.
A study commissioned by the City of Helsinki found that when Helsinki residents are included, about 80,000 people attended events linked with the contest.
The greatest economic impact of the contest resulted from the organisation. The Helsinki region got EUR 12.6 million, of which EUR 10.8 million was from the organising of the event itself. Less than EUR 5 million came from outside guests.
Foreign visitors especially were economically important. Whereas the Finnish Eurovision guests spent less than EUR 50 a day on average, hundreds of foreigners would spend more than EUR 500 in some cases.
"Finnish guests acme to enjoy the experience. The foreigners came to party and to spend money", says Seppo Laakso of the urban research company Kaupunkitutkimus, which conducted the follow-up study.
hat tip: Miserable Old Fart