Economic Impact of the 11^th Douro Valley Half Marathon

The aim of this study was to analyze the direct economic impact of the 11^th Douro Valley Half Marathon held in Portugal in 2016. An ad-hoc questionnaire was designed for collecting data. It was composed of four dimensions: (i) socio-demographic data, (ii) expenses, (iii) sports practice, and (iv) satisfaction with the event (54 items in total). There were 375 questionnaires randomly collected in a total of 16,330 runners. The mean expense of local participants in this half marathon was €219, while non-resident participants expended about €320. Thus, the local participants’ inflow was €1,036,965, while the non-resident participants’ inflow was €3,709,760, resulting in a total participant inflow of €4,746,725. Regarding the participants’ specific expenses, the following order was obtained: 1st, accommodation; 2^nd, food; 3^rd, travel costs; 4^th, shopping. It was calculated that the total local economic impact of the 11^th Douro Valley Half Marathon participants was almost five million euros (€4,746,725).