Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau

Boulder IRONMAN Competitor Study

Economic Impact and Significance

November 2014

Prepared for:
Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau

Prepared by:
RRC Associates, Inc.
4770 Baseline Rd., Suite 360
Boulder, CO 80301
303/449-6558
www.rrcassociates.com

2014 Boulder IRONMAN Competitor Study

Economic Impact Results
INTRODUCTION
This report briefly summarizes the economic impact results of the Boulder IRONMAN Triathlon
held on August 3, 2014. The study documents some of the key impacts, including total
economic impact, total jobs, and total labor income. The information is intended to assist city
leaders to develop strategies and tactics for future races in the City of Boulder.

Methodology
The results presented in this report are based on a survey of competitors in the Boulder
IRONMAN. Competitors were interviewed at the athlete check-in, held at the Boulder High
School on July 31 and August 1. A team of trained interviewers, using electronic tablets,
conducted face-to-face (intercept) surveys with athletes. The survey was quite short, collecting
only a few key pieces of information, along with an email address for sending out a follow-up
survey. A total of 402 intercept surveys were gathered during the pre-race check-in. The
cooperation rate for the intercept survey was very high, estimated at over 90 percent.
The 402 intercept surveys represent a margin of error of 4.51 percent (at the 95 percent
confidence interval). These results are well within industry standards for market research
studies.
A more detailed survey was emailed after the race to those competitors who provided an email
address. The invitation to the post-race survey was sent out on Wednesday, August 6, and two
additional reminder emails were sent in the subsequent weeks. 133 completed post-race
surveys were received. The face-to-face and post-race surveys were matched (using the
athletes email address) to create a complete survey record for each respondent.

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2014 Boulder IRONMAN Competitor Study

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The results of the study are summarized in this section. Please see the main body of the report
for more detail on these and other topics.

The IRONMAN race in Boulder saw 2,624 competitors start the event.

Forty percent of non-Boulder County competitors visited Boulder to train prior to the
race. These competitors made an average of 2.6 pre-race trips to Boulder for a total of
3.2 nights across all pre-race training trips.

For the IRONMAN event itself, the average nights stayed was 5.1 nights.

Overall, 6.5 percent of the race starters were residents of the City of Boulder. 52
percent were visitors lodging in Boulder, and 42 percent were visitors lodging outside
Boulder.

Total direct economic impact was $4.41 million for the Boulder region.

Total secondary economic impact (indirect plus induced effects) was $1.96 million.

Total economic impact was $6.37 million.

Table 1 below summarizes selected key findings from the research.

Table 1
Summary of Selected Key Findings
Economic Measure
Direct Competitor Travel Party Spending
(IRONMAN and pre-race training trips combined)*

Amount
$4,966,352

Direct economic impact

$4,414,713

Secondary economic impact (indirect and induced effects)

$1,958,615

Total economic impact

(Direct economic impact plus secondary impact)

$6,373,327

* Excluding airfare and travel expenditures.

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REPORT FINDINGS
Competitor Characteristics

Visitor Type. Ten percent of the race

competitors were residents of Boulder
County. Colorado (outside of Boulder
County) represented 31 percent of the
athletes, while out-of-state domestic
competitors accounted for 47 percent of
the racers. Finally, International
competitors were 12 percent of the total.

Race Competitor Expenditures. Average competitor travel party spending, including

Boulder County residents, was $1,643. Given an estimated 2,493 competitor parties, this
represents approximately $4.1 million in direct spending in the Boulder area associated
with the IRONMAN event.
Table 2
Average Competitor Party Expenditures, by Type
Average Travel
Party Spending

Share of Travel
Party Spending

Average spending for lodging / accommodations

$734.84

44.8%

Average spending for dining, food and drinks

$378.79

23.1%

Average spending for shopping, gifts, souvenirs

$302.46

18.4%

Average spending for entertainment and activities

$118.13

7.2%

Average spending for other spending

$108.45

6.6%

$1,642.66

100%

Spending Type

Average Total Spending

Source: Boulder CVB IRONMAN Survey

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Multi-Competitor Travel Parties. To avoid double counting on the party expenditures, a

factor was estimated to account for travel parties with multiple competitors in the same
party. This factor was estimated at 5 percent, thus reducing the total number of
competitor travel parties from 2,624 to 2,493.

Per person per day Expenditures. Average per person per day spending was $197, much
higher than $133 per person per day for all Boulder visitors (from the 2012 Visitor
Economic Impact study). Those staying in a hotel during the IRONMAN spent an
average of $222 per person per day.

Trip Length. Average trip length for IRONMAN competitor parties was 5.1 nights, a
relatively long length of stay that suggests athletes stayed both before and after the
event. The impact of these extended trips is significant for hotels and other tourism
businesses in Boulder.

Pre-race Training Trips. Forty percent of non-Boulder County competitors visited

Boulder to train prior to the race. These competitors made an average of 2.6 pre-race
trips to Boulder for a total of 3.2 nights across all pre-race training trips. Quantifying
these pre-race training trips is an important outcome of this research project. The
economic impact of the pre-race training trips is included in the calculations in this
report.

Direct Spending on Pre-Race Training Trips. These pre-race training trips generated an
estimated $871,191 in direct expenditure in the Boulder area.

Table 3
Average Competitor Party Expenditures, by Type
Direct Spending
Direct Spending IRONMAN visit

$4,095,162

Direct Spending pre-race visits

$871,191

Total Direct Spending

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$4,966,352

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2014 Boulder IRONMAN Competitor Study

Total Direct Spending. Total direct spending, both during the IRONMAN event and for
pre-race training trips to Boulder, was $4,966,352. Of that total, an estimated
$4,312,665 (or 87 percent) was spent in the City of Boulder.

Opportunity Cost. The Boulder IRONMAN event occurred during a traditionally busy
time for hotels and other visitor-dependent businesses. Indeed, historic occupancy rates
in Boulder during the first weekend in August have been in excess of 95 percent. While
the argument could be made that IRONMAN competitors (and their travel party
members) were taking hotel rooms that would have been occupied anyway, it is difficult
to say with much precision how that first weekend in August would have been different
without the IRONMAN event. The very long length of stay and the pre-race training
visits associated with IRONMAN definitely contribute to the overall impact.

Expenditures, Direct Economic Impact and Total Economic Impact

Terminology
In order to evaluate the economic scope and impacts of the IRONMAN race in Boulder, several
economic measures have been calculated: Direct Economic Impact, Secondary Economic
Impact, and Total Economic Impact.

Direct Visitor Expenditures shows the estimated dollar amounts spent by all
competitors and their travel party in conjunction with the Boulder IRONMAN event,
including pre-race training trips to Boulder (as collected on visitor surveys and discussed
above).

Direct Economic Impact is a measure of economic activity associated with the

IRONMAN event, including residents of Boulder County. The term direct further
specifies that the economic impact evaluation has been limited to first-order economic
effects from competitor travel parties. Secondary/multiplier impacts are in addition to
the direct effects and are included in the total economic impact figure.
Note as well that the direct economic significance/impact measures described above
differ from raw expenditures, insofar as the economic significance/impact measures
both incorporate an adjustment to retail purchases to include retailer margins only, and
thus more accurately reflect local economic activity.

Secondary Economic Impact represents the additional economic activity stimulated in

the local economy as a result of the direct impacts, and is sometimes referred to as the

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multiplier effect. This includes indirect effects associated with the supply chain (e.g.
the linen provider which services a hotel) and induced effects associated with
employees in directly or indirectly affected industries spending their wages in the local
economy; plus related follow-on rounds of economic activity from these indirect and
induced effects. This analysis uses output multipliers calculated by the Minnesota
IMPLAN Group for applicable industry sectors for the City of Boulder as of 2013, to
estimate secondary economic impacts.

Total Economic Impact represents the sum of direct and secondary economic impacts.

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