Abstract
The aim of this study was to illustrate the importance of major sports events, such as marathons, and their economic impact on hotel performance during these unpredictable times for the events and tourism industry. The analysis was focused on the economic impact of the marathon event on hotel performance in the area hosting the race. For that purpose, we selected the Vienna City Marathon, held yearly in April, as a case. We hypothesized that there will be a higher impact of hotel performance a day prior to the marathon in regard to the hotel performance in multiple nonmarathon occasions. As indicators for hotel performance we have chosen hotel occupancy, revenue per available room, average daily rate and total revenue recorded for: day (always Saturday) prior to the marathon, year average, April average and average Saturday in April. Results from this study revealed significant effects of a marathon on three major hotel performance indicators (i.e., hotel occupancy, revenue per available room and total revenue). Findings from this study could serve the local government or event planners after the current crisis to justify financial investments in hosting a marathon or similar sports events for restarting tourism.
Highlights
Sports events and tourism are closely linked
With limitations in attendance and impact measurement demonstrated by [48], in this study we focused on the difference made on hotel performance indicators in hotels in the area hosting the race due to the sport event i.e., the marathon that was held
We used a similar methodology as presented in the study conducted by Depken and Fore. They focused on full-service restaurants, as dependent variables they chose total sales/revenue, number of customers served and revenue per customer, which corresponds with the variables we selected for our research that relate to hotel performance [58]
Summary
Sports events and tourism are closely linked. tourism and sports were, and still are among, the heavily impacted industries due to the current crisis caused by the new coronavirus (COVID-19). When most of the work is moved online, and while the discussion of hosting big international events into the online world is taking place, it is argued that this might be the right moment to remember and reinforce the significance of sports events and economic impact they can have on tourism and hospitality. This is important since the “tourism restart” must eventually take place, and events in general and sporting events, in particular, are perceived as the drivers of this recovery
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