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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, March 18, 2002

Sports big draw for Hawai'i

By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Ironman Triathlon is more than a sporting event to Gerry Rott. It means survival for her small business, B & L Bike and Sports in Kona.

As last year's Ironman Triathlon World Championship got under way, Big Island businesses heaved sighs of relief. Despite the Sept. 11 attacks, the event drew 20,000 people and about $14.9 million in sales.

Advertiser library photo • Oct. 6, 2001

"It's half our gross for the year in one month," said Rott. "It's our year."

The Big Island was spared the drop in tourism suffered on most other islands in October thanks to Ironman, which drew approximately 20,000 competitors and supporters and generated an estimated $14.9 million in direct sales.

Most spikes in visitor arrivals in the past six months came on the back of sporting events, including early December before the Honolulu Marathon and around the Pro Bowl in early February, which saw domestic visitor arrivals rise above 100 percent of previous-year levels.

The power of sporting events to draw visitors — to participate or watch — and indirectly through television exposure has never been clearer. Recognizing this has prompted state tourism officials to step up their efforts to promote these events, highlighting one each month beginning in April.

Some, like the Honolulu Marathon, are self-sustaining. Others are partly or wholly supported by the state. The Hawai'i Tourism Authority spent $7.3 million promoting 19 sporting events last year, or 8 percent of its $61 million tourism marketing budget.

The most significant investments are the $4.75 million that went into the Pro Bowl football game this year and the $1.8 million package of six tournaments and television shows associated with the Professional Golf Association tour. The authority also has provided financial assistance to the Ironman Triathlon, the Maui Marathon, some surfing and kite surfing contests, as well as billfishing tournaments. Youth soccer championship games, where participants often bring parents and friends, may be added to the list.

According to results from a mailed visitor satisfaction survey conducted by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, roughly 5 percent of the state's 6.4 million tourists in 2001 said they came to Hawai'i to watch or participate in some type of sporting event or tournament.

And after the Sept. 11 attacks, sports was a lifeline for the Islands.

"(Ironman) made all the difference in the world for Kona," said Rott.

Sporting events lend stability to the economy and promote Hawai'i as a health-oriented, active place, said Pearl Imada Iboshi, the state's chief economist. Publicizing them more effectively will provide a "new motivation to come to Hawai'i," said Tony Vericella, executive director of the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Honolulu Marathon runners gave Hawai'i added exposure after the Tokyo Broadcasting System aired a video of the 29th annual event.

Advertiser library photo • Dec. 9, 2001

DBEDT has evidence that sporting events are reason enough for many visitors to come to the islands. Now it wants to measure on a monthly basis just how many. In April, said Iboshi, travelers on Hawai'i-bound flights will see a new survey question: Are you here for a sporting event?

The state's marketing team isn't waiting for the survey results. "We want to pay more attention to getting the word out to the right audience about all of these sports that are unique to Hawai'i," Vericella said. He hopes the bureau can accomplish this by showcasing the events on the tourism Web site (gohawaii.com), and by bringing in more media to focus on stories related to ocean and lifestyle events.

"Each event draws its own market," said Marcia Sakai, director of the school of business and professor of tourism and economics at UH Hilo. "The marathon runners are regulars. The same thing is true for (Kona's) billfish tournament." When events are successful, she said, "people come back year after year."

Because of this, Iboshi believes that events have a significant economic impact. We need "to push diversification within our tourism industry," she said. "And part of that would be extending the role of these kinds of participation events."

The state has no statistics on the economic impact of sporting events and relying on event organizers for data is problematic. Sakai said many race and tournament directors submit their own reports. Nearly all use a different measuring device.

Some, like the Honolulu Marathon, draw significant visitor participation with nearly 16,000 out-of-state registrants in last December's race and as many as 35,000 more accompanying them.

Others, like the Ironman Triathlon and XTERRA mountain bike triathlon on Maui, get media exposure on national network television. Maui's national championship XTERRA race airs on CBS, then repeats on nationally syndicated television. The Ironman telecast airs on NBC and has won several Emmys for its dramatic portrayal of the Big Island and race competitors. "If (visitors) have seen (Ironman) on TV, they know Kona because of it," said Rott.

Because of the Ironman, two other popular triathlons also take place in or near Kona. The Keauhou-Kona Triathlon is an Ironman qualifier and provides "another big boost" in May, said Rott, with 900 athletes who typically travel with friends and family. The Lavaman Triathlon in April is a shorter, participatory event that blossomed to 500 entrants, and will be televised on Outdoor Life Network this year.

More than 2.3 million households watched the Tokyo Broadcasting System's tape of the 29th Honolulu Marathon, which aired in January. According to Joseph Toy, president and chief executive of Hospitality Advisors, hotel occupancy rose to 80.6 percent the Saturday before the marathon from 56 percent the previous week.

Some surfing events, the Waikiki Rough Water Swim or the Maui Marathon may not air on national television or significantly boost hotel occupancy, but help promote the lifestyle many in the tourism industry want identified with Hawai'i.

Joe Green, owner of Surf n Sea, said that non-surfers come into his store and report that they traveled to Hawai'i just to see the surf. He said that his surf shop, which he has owned and managed since 1982, has been highlighted in more commercials and movies than he can count.

"The allure, I believe, is the miles and miles of beaches and the good surf that breaks on those beaches," said Greene. That magic permeates far beyond just the loyal surfers who return year after year. The power of surfing "and what it does for the Island" is not recognized enough, he said.

Legendary surfer George Downing agreed. "When you think of Hawai'i, what do you think about?" he asked. Whenever a video is created to promote Hawai'i to tour directors, "the first thing you see is surfing," he said. "There's no place else in the world that has what we have here. And I've looked."