The economic impact of road race events on the host country : a case study of the 2019 Gozo half marathon

Abstract

The sports tourism industry plays a highly significant role in a country’s tourism sector, which is one of the most rapidly developing sectors in the world. Additionally, sports tourism activities, such as diving, skiing and running, are considered as key sporting events in the sports tourism industry. As the knowledge on and importance of road race events have been exponentially growing in the past decade, such events are expected to have a significant impact on the countries hosting the event. In this regard, the aim of this dissertation is to determine the economic impact that road race events have on the host country, given that they form an integral part of the sports tourism industry.

This research is based on the case study of the 2019 Gozo Half Marathon, in which data was obtained from 387 valid surveys distributed to the 1310 finishers after the event (yielding a response rate of 30%). In order to be able to answer the research question and determine the multiplier effect that the 2019 Gozo Half Marathon had on the economy of the host country, the Leontief demand driven model was utilised to obtain the output, value added and income effects generated by the event on the Maltese economy. The model is based on the 40-by-40 disaggregated symmetric input-output table for 2010, published by the National Statistics Office in 2016 in Euro millions.

The results show that the event generated approximately €1,660,000 to the output and production of the Maltese economy, approximately €626,000 to the value added and €308,000 to the income of the Maltese labour force. The accommodation and food services industry benefitted from the greatest effects, generating approximately €462,000 to output; €355,000 to value added and €179,000 to income. Moreover, when compared to the costs incurred in organising such an event, the local economy benefited from considerable output and value added return ratios of 34 and 10 respectively. The organisation of road race events helps to create positive impacts on the host economies, particularly when such events are organised in periods that do not constitute the peak tourism season.