Tuesday, January 13, 2009

(Pro) Bowling Aloha

News Flash: Promoters Lie....

Bowling in Hawaii: Examining the Effectiveness of Sports-Based Tourism
Strategies

Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson & Chihiro Muroi
Journal of Sports Economics, February 2009, Pages 107-123

Abstract:
We use daily airplane arrival data from Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to determine the net change in tourism for a variety of sporting events. We find three events generate a positive and significant net impact on arrivals: the Honoulu Marathon, the Ironman Triathlon, and the Pro Bowl. We estimate that the Honolulu Marathon produces 2,183 to 6,519 in net arrivals while the Pro Bowl attracts about 5,596 to 6,726 in net arrivals and the Ironman Triathlon attracts between 1,880 and 3,583 net visitors. Overall, these events generate similar economic impacts on Hawaii's economy despite the fact that the state spends nearly two thirds of its sports tourism budget on the rights to the Pro Bowl while spending a fraction of that sum on the Ironman and nothing at all for the Honolulu Marathon. None of the three events attract the number of net arrivals claimed by their sponsors, and other sporting events do not generate any identifiable impact on the tourist arrivals whatsoever.


(Nod to KL)