Two million dollars in sports tourism spending expected from swim meets in coming months
Businesses that reach out to the 12,000 to 15,000 out-of-towners who will visit in Martin County for aquatic sports events at the Sailfish Splash Aquatic Center between September 24 and the end of competitive aquatics in 2016 will harvest a windfall of “sports tourism” spending.
The Florida Sports Foundation indicates that on average adults spend $143 per day in association with a sports event. Nerissa Okiye, Martin County Tourism & Marketing Manager noted, “Taking into account the nature of our aquatic events, the demographics of the attendees, and Martin County’s menu of amenities and attractions, we estimate that spending in Martin County would be at least $125 per day per overnight guest.”
For the similar period last year, aquatic sports events sponsored by the Treasure Coast Sports Commission produced 2,624 room night stays, $1,236,596 in economic impact and $2,139,311 in output impact. This does not include “day-tripper” spending from “commuter” attendees from the Miami Orlando corridor.
Rick Hatcher, Executive Director of the Treasure Coast Sports Commission commented, “Clearly, significant spending by out-of-county visitors accompanies the events that flow through the Sailfish Splash Aquatic Center during the competitive season.”
Overnight stays of aquatic athletic sports tourists will range from one night to two weeks in length, during which time these visitors ask: “Where can I stay? What’s a good place to eat? What’s there to do? Where can I buy…?” The tightly scheduled and controlled sessions of aquatic events create an unusual circumstance to expose these captive, concentrated audiences to business messages and information.
Craig Jon Anderson, Marketing Manager, Martin County Parks & Recreation Department said, “We created communication mechanisms that businesses can use to get their messages out.” He continued, “If a business wants to capture the attention of these prospective customers, we can do it.”