Lu Lu's Waikiki Surf Club is still recovering from the bump in business it got last weekend from the Paul Mitchell AVP Best of the Beach volleyball tournament and now has to get ready for even more activity surrounding this weekend's JAL Honolulu Triathlon Championships.

Lu Lu's will host 280 Australian triathletes for breakfast on Friday and will close the bar Sunday night so the Australians can throw a private, post-race party for themselves, their friends and family. Lu Lu's is also giving 20 percent discounts all week on alcohol and food for every Australian team member.

"We had the AVP volleyball tournament across the street so that was certainly a bonus," said Lu Lu's manager Brendan Fritz-sche. "Now we've got 300 Australian athletes and they're going to want to unwind pretty heavily."

The Australians represent just one contingent out of 2,000 free-spending triathletes from nearly 50 countries who have begun filtering into Waikiki this week. Their arrival means welcome revenue for Honolulu businesses who are entering the annual slow "shoulder season" between summer and the holidays.

"I should be getting a lot of Christmas cards from a lot of businesses when this is all over," said John Korff, the organizer of the Hawai'i installment of the World Triathlon Championships, which is held in a different country every year and is in Waikiki for the first time. "Whether they do beach cruises, restaurants or bars, these triathletes are spending a lot of money. It's become the new thing for corporate executives to want to do."

Korff estimates that the separate elite and age-group races will attract an average of three guests for every triathlete and will generate $20 million to $25 million for O'ahu's economy over 10 days.

"That's money that stays here and doesn't include airfares and taxes," Korff said. "This is a slow time of year, so every dollar that's being spent is a new dollar as opposed to kicking somebody out because the hotel is sold out."

Mike Story, sports events manager for the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, said he hesitates to put economic impact figures on individual sporting events "because it's a slippery slope. A lot of people overstate and a lot of people understate. It's really tough to measure accurately."

But the HTA is sponsoring 22 sporting events this year, including the JAL Honolulu Triathlon Championships, and Story estimates their overall economic impact "safely over $100 million." Eight of the HTA-sponsored events occur during Hawai'i's shoulder season.

The organizers of the Honolulu Marathon Association, which is not sponsored by the HTA, estimate their race generates more economic benefit — $90.7 million in 2004 — than any other Hawai'i sporting event and twice the next largest event, the NFL Pro Bowl.

"There are literally hundreds of businesses that we work with," said Jim Barahal, president of the Honolulu Marathon Association. "We buy ice, we set up tents — the businesses are too numerous to even think of."

But Barahal believes the true worth of any sporting event must be measured by the tolerance of businesses and neighborhoods that are affected — especially by road closures.

"The people that are directly benefiting are going to say, 'the more the merrier,' " Barahal said. "What's the risk? The community will not tolerate over a long period of time too many events.

"The average person doesn't care about the economic impact. It's too abstract. All he knows is that he's sitting there in a traffic jam and the triathlon is something that ties up the roads for a couple of days. ... It's not a rivalry, but we are competing for the same support of the community. To be honest, I don't think you can handle too many races that involve long road closures."

The largest team by far for the JAL Honolulu Triathlon Championships comes from the United States, which is fielding 600 elite and age-group triathletes such as Billy Hart, a 37-year-old trucking company owner from Jacksonville Beach, Fla.

Hart Transportation Inc. employs more than 100 workers and generates more than $10 million in annual revenue, Hart said.

Hart will arrive tomorrow with his wife, Shelley, and their 6-year-old daughter, Victoria. While Hart will focus on racing in the 35- to 38-year-old category, Shelley and Victoria will be left to shop high-end, designer stores at Ala Moana Center.

Asked if he will scrimp on his 10-day Hawai'i vacation, Hart said, "Oh gosh, no. I work way too hard to do that. We do it up right."

Overall, Hart estimates the family will spend up to $700 per day, including lodging and dining.

As a team, the Australians estimate they will spend $1.2 million over 10 days in Honolulu, including airfare, $500,000 in hotel rooms, a $12,000 sunset dinner cruise tonight for the entire team and $6,000 for breakfast at Lu Lu's.

The individual Australian athletes are accompanied by nearly 400 guests, said Kerry Stubbs, co-manager of the Triathlon Australia team.

Stubbs and co-manager Brett James estimate their athletes earn an average of $75,000 per year in a sport in which the Australians' bikes cost an average of $4,200.

"There's a high disposable income across the sport of triathlon," Stubbs said. "It's expensive for equipment and it's expensive to travel. It's just a very expensive sport."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.