Last year, the Trinidad Alfonso Zurich Valencia Marathon registered a new record of runners – 32,455 registered, 17% above 2022 – and left a tourist expenditure of 31,000 euros in the city of Valencia and its surroundings. 3 million euros, almost 10% more than the previous edition and five times what was invested in its organization, according to the impact report prepared by the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (Ivie), presented this Tuesday in the Valencian capital.
The organization invested 6.2 million euros in the celebration of the 43rd edition, which took place on December 3. 60% came from registrations, 33.6% came from sponsors and 5.8% came from institutions and own funds. This means that for every euro spent in the organization, five euros of tourist spending have been generated by participants from outside the region and their companions. Since 2011, the investment in the organization of the race has multiplied by five in real terms: it has gone from 1.2 million to 6.2 million in the last edition.
The high number of foreign runners, which grew by 29% over the 2022 event and now represents 57% of the total, is one of the causes of the increase in tourist spending, because their stay in the city is longer and their average daily expenditure is higher. The number of foreign runners last year reached 18,540 people, with an average individual expenditure of 157.4 euros per day, compared to 122.3 euros for national runners.
Tourist spending is not the only economic impact left by the Valencia Marathon. The 37.5 million euros that add up to the expense associated with the organization and that made by the participants and their companions generate a total impact on the turnover (company turnover) of the Valencian economy of 67.6 million of euros. This translates into a real impact on Valencian income (GDP, that is, salaries, wages and profits of companies) of 19.9 million euros..
The activity generated by the Marathon last year made it possible to maintain the equivalent of 600 full-time jobs per year, which represents an increase of 5.1% compared to the 2022 edition. This driving effect has been has been expanding and, in the last decade (specifically since 2011), the impacts of the Marathon in the province of Valencia have multiplied by nine in real terms, in the case of the income generated, and almost by 12, if it's about jobs.
The services sector is the one that benefits the most from the impact of the Marathon, concentrating between 87% and 90%, in terms of both income and employment. Specifically, the hospitality industry, commerce, real estate activities and business services, and other social services and activities (which include cultural, recreational and sports services) are the sectors most favored by the celebration of the event.
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The Ivie report, prepared by the deputy director of the Institute, Joaquín Maudos, and the economist Eva Benages, updates the analysis of the fiscal impact of the Marathon that was included as a novelty in the previous edition. According to the data from the new report, the test contributed 10.6 million euros to the public coffers through tax collection, via taxes and social contributions, which generate the expenses of the organization and the participants and their companions. before. This figure is 10.6% higher in real terms than in 2022 and means that, for every euro spent in the organization, 1.7 euros are generated in taxes collected.
According to Joaquín Maudos, director of the study, “the Valencia Marathon continues to break records year after year. In its latest edition, the number of runners increased by 17%, foreigners now account for 57% of the total, the impact generated on income is 7.4% higher in real terms, and the impact on employment has increased 5.1%. These are figures that set the bar very high for the 2024 edition.″
Paco Borao, president of the SD Correcaminos, has recognized that the growing census of the Valencia Marathon and the continuous increase in foreign participation in the event has caused the extraordinary economic impact of our event in recent years. In addition, he has emphasized that all registrations for the 2024 event have already been sold, hanging the full poster two months earlier than last year.
Juan Miguel Gómez, director of the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation, the main collaborator of the race, highlighted that “above all the positive figures that we have known, I want to highlight the more than 10.5 million that the Valencia Marathon leaves for the coffers.” public†.
MarÃa à ngeles Vidal, managing director of the Municipal Sports Foundation of the Valencia City Council, has emphasized that “these 600 jobs that have been created in all sectors and that have an effect on the professionalization and training that has made us creating a professional network specialized in sporting events. “The Marathon helps us make Valencia look more and more like a city capable of organizing anything sportingly,†she concluded.