Run brought $86.8M to state

By Debbie Sokei
Advertiser Staff Writer

The 2003 Honolulu Marathon brought 6.5 percent less money into the state than the 2002 race, a study says. Advertiser library photo

Last year, 25,283 runners entered the 31st annual event, down from 30,428 in 2002, according to the Honolulu Marathon's Web site. That is well below the 34,434 entries in 1995, the peak for the December event.

"Part of the decrease was because of the cutback in flights from Japan," said Jim Barahal, president of the Honolulu Marathon Association. Japanese airlines reduced flights to Hawai'i last year amid a drop in demand related to the SARS epidemic and the war in Iraq.

The marathon is the world's sixth largest marathon and the nation's third largest race.

HPU professor Jerome Agrusa supervised a team of students in the school's Travel Industry Management program that conducted the survey. They surveyed 1,000 runners and walkers from 18 nations and 26 states.

The study found more than 91 percent of those surveyed stayed in a hotel; 40 percent of the English-speaking runners and 31 percent of the Japanese runners said the race was their first visit to Hawai'i. Almost 93 percent of the first-time visitors from English-speaking countries and the Mainland and 87 percent of first-time visitors from Japan said they would return to Hawai'i for a vacation.

Barahal said the study is the only one that tracks the marathon's direct economic impact to the state.

"We did it because we've seen several numbers flying around and the last time an economic impact statement was done was 10 years ago by the state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism," Barahal said.

Reach Debbie Sokei at 525-8064 or dsokei@honoluluadvertiser.com.