An Economic Impact Case Study: The South Pacific Masters' Games

The South Pacific Masters' Games in New Zealand is an example of sports tourism promoted by sporting enthusiasts as a commercial venture with support from a local authority, Hamilton City Council. Council support was motivated partly by a wish to achieve economic gain from the Games. The study estimates that the total of 1,655 competitors created a net incremental economic impact of NZNZ$249,000 (about £90,000). Additionally, the paper provides a case study of how direct economic impacts might be assessed and discusses reasons why such small-scale local studies should perhaps not attempt multiplier estimates, given the type of data that such studies require.