Economic Impact of Different Host Destinations for Running the Marathon Events in Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the economic input and impact of the different host destinations from the spending of non-resident participants during the marathon events in Taiwan. With a combination of the previous literature on the economic impact of running events, the ＂Questionnaire on the Economic Impact of Running Events in Taiwan＂ was prepared. Participants for this study were selected from non-resident participants of three running events in Taiwan, such as the 2014 Taroko Gorge Marathon in Hualien, the 2014 Taipei International Marathon and the 2015 Kinmen Marathon. This study used purposive sampling to gather 686 valid questionnaires. An input-output multiplier table that was generated by Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan (DGBAS) was used to analyze the data. The results were as follows: First, significant differences were found in the number of days (nights) that non-resident participants staying at the host destination and their daily spend, and the number of days (nights) spent at different hosting destinations. The expenditure for Kinmen and Hualien events were significantly higher compared to the Taipei marathon. Moreover the number of days (nights) spent and expenditure for Kinmen marathon was significantly higher compared to the Hualien marathon. Second, the total output for different industrial sectors, increased local income and job opportunities driven by the expenditure of non-resident participants among three marathons were also showed significant differences. The economic impact of marathons hosted by Kinmen and Hualien were significantly higher than marathon organized by Taipei. This study concludes that there are significant differences in the economic input and impact of non-resident marathon participants in three marathon host destinations, with the outlying islands and eastern Taiwan showing a significantly stronger effect. In addition, the spending of non-resident participants for the running events was higher than the spending for general domestic tourism and individual sports. The total output for different industry sectors, increased local income and new job opportunities driven by marathon events were also higher compared to the individual sport competitions in Taiwan. This indicates that marathons help to create the value, and produce a positive impact on local economy. In particular, organizing of marathon events in the offshore island and eastern Taiwan can be used as sport tourism activities to counteract seasonality in the tourism industry.