Determinants of Visitor Spending: An Evaluation of Participants and Spectators at the Two Oceans Marathon

Abstract

This paper investigates the socio-demographic and behavioural determinants that influence visitor expenditure at the Two Oceans Marathon in South Africa, based on a participant and spectator survey conducted at the race in 2011. Regression analyses were applied and the results indicate that greater length of stay, paid accommodation, number of marathons participated in per year and higher level of education signficantly influence higher participant spending at the marathon, while a high-income occupation and paid accommodation are associated with higher levels of spectator expenditure. These findings not only generate strategic insights into the marketing of the event; knowledge of these determinants will also lead to a greater economic impact and competitive advantage.

Keywords

sport tourism sporting events marathon regression analysis Cape Town South Africa

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alegre

Juaneda

(2006), ‘Destination loyalty: Consumers' economic behaviour’, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol 33, No 3, pp 684–706.

Beh

Bruyere

B.L.

(2007), ‘Segmentation by visitor motivation in three Kenyan national reserves’, Tourism Management, Vol 28, No 6, pp 1464–1471.

Bloom

Grant

Watt

(2005), Strengthening Canada: The Socio-Economic Benefits of Sport Participation in Canada, The Conference Board of Canada, Ottawa.

Bodet

Bernache-Assollant

(2009), ‘Do fans care for hot dogs? A satisfaction analysis of French ice hockey spectators’, International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, Vol 5, No 1, pp 15–37.

Boen

Vanbeselaere

Swinnen

(2005), ‘Predicting fan support in a merger between soccer teams: A social psychological perspective’, International Journal of Sport Psychology, Vol 36, No 1, pp 1–21.

Boen

Vanbeselaere

Pandelaere

Shutters

Rowe

(2008), ‘When your team is not really your team anymore: Identification with a merged basketball club’, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Vol 20, No 2, pp 165–183.

Brotherton

Himmetoglu

(1997), ‘Beyond destinations: Special interest tourism’, Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol 8, No 3, pp 1–30.

Bouchet

Bodet

Bernache-Assollant

Kada

(2010), ‘Segmenting sport spectators: Constructing and preliminary validation of the Sporting Event Experience Search (SEES) scale’, Sport Management Review, Vol 1, No 1, pp 1–12.

Cai

L.A.

Hong

Morrison

A.M.

(1995), ‘Household expenditure patterns for tourism products and services’, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol 4, No 4, pp 15–40.

10.

Cannon

T.F.

Ford

(2002), ‘Relationship of demographic and trip characteristics to visitor spending: An analysis of sports travel across time’, Tourism economics, Vol 8, No 3, pp 263–271.

11.

Cassidy

Pegg

(2008), ‘Exploring the motivations for engagement in sport tourism’ (http://eprints.usq.edu.au/4211/1/Cassidy_Pegg.pdf, accessed 29 February 2010).

12.

Clark

L.A.

Watson

(1995), ‘Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale development’, Psychological Assessment, Vol 7, No 3, pp 309–319.

13.

Cohen

(1988), Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edn, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.

14.

Cook

R.A.

Yale

L.J.

Marqua

J.J.

(2010), Tourism. The Business of Travel, 4th edn, Pearson Education, Inc, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

15.

Craggs

Schofield

(2009), ‘Expenditure-based segmentation and visitor profiling at the Quays in Salford, UK’, Tourism Economics, Vol 15, No 1, pp 243–260.

16.

Crosset

(1995), ‘Toward an understanding of on-site fan-athlete relations: A case study of the LPGA’, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol 4, No 2, pp 31–38.

17.

Crouch

G.I.

(1994), ‘The study of international tourism demand: A review of findings’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 33, No 1, pp 12–23.

18.

Davies

L.E.

(2002), ‘Consumers' expenditure on sport in the UK: Increased spending or underestimation?’, Managing Leisure, Vol 7, No 2, pp 83–102.

19.

De Guzman

A.B.

Leones

J.D.

Tapia

K.K.L.

Wong

W.G.

De Castro

B.V.

(2006), ‘Segmenting motivation’, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol 33, No 3, pp 863–867.

20.

Dietz-Uhler

Harrick

E.A.

End

Jacquemotte

(2000), ‘Sex differences in sport fan behavior and reasons for being a sport fan’, Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol 23, No 3, pp 219–231.

21.

Downward

Lumsdon

(2004), ‘Tourism transport and visitor spending: A study in the North York Moors National Park, UK’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 42, No 4, pp 415–420.

22.

Ellis

S.M.

Steyn

H.S.

(2003), ‘Practical significance (effect sizes) versus or in combination with statistical significance (p values)’, Management Dynamics, Vol 12, No 1, pp 51–53.

23.

Field

(2005), Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, 2nd edn, SAGE, London.

24.

Fish

Waggle

(1996), ‘Current income versus total expenditure measures in regression models of vacation and pleasure travel’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 35, No 2, pp 70–74.

25.

Fort

(2003), Sports Economics, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

26.

Frechtling

D.C.

(2006), ‘An assessment of visitor expenditure methods and models’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 20, pp 1–10.

27.

Getz

(1998), ‘Trends, strategies and issues in sport-event tourism’, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol 7, No 2, pp 8–13.

28.

Gibson

H.J.

(1998), ‘Sport tourism: A critical analysis of research’, Sport Management Review, Vol 1, No 1, pp 45–76.

29.

Giulianotti

(2002), ‘Supporters, followers, fans and flaneurs: A taxonomy of spectator identities in football’, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol 26, No 1, pp 25–46.

30.

Gokovali

Bahar

Kozak

(2007), ‘Determinants of length of stay: A practical use of survival analysis’, Tourism Management, Vol 28, pp 736–746.

31.

Gratton

Dobson

Shibli

(2000), ‘The economic importance of major sport events: A case-study of six events’, Managing Leisure, Vol 5, No 1, pp 17–28.

32.

Gyte

D.M.

Phelps

(1989), ‘Patterns of destination repeat business: British tourists in Mallorca, Spain’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 28, No 1, pp 24–28.

33.

Hill

Green

B.C.

(2000), ‘Repeat attendance as a function of loyalty and the sportscape across three football contexts’, Sport Management Review, Vol 3, No 2, pp 145–162.

34.

Hinch

Higham

(2004), Sport Tourism Development, Channel View, Clevedon, Buffalo.

35.

Hunt

Bristol

Bashaw

(1999), ‘A conceptual approach to classifying sport fans’, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol 13, No 6, pp 439–452.

36.

Irwin

R.L.

Sandler

M.A.

(1998), ‘An analysis of travel behaviour and event-induced expenditures among American collegiate championship patron groups’, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol 4, No 1, pp 79–90.

37.

Israel

G.D.

(2009), ‘Determining sample size’ (http://www.edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/pd/pd00600.pdf, accessed 12 July 2010).

38.

Jang

Bai

Hong

O'Leary

J.T.

(2004), ‘Understanding travel expenditure patterns: A study of Japanese pleasure travelers to the United States by income level’, Tourism Management, Vol 25, No 3, pp 331–341.

39.

Kastenholz

(2005), ‘Analysing determinants of visitor spending for the rural tourist market in North Portugal’, Tourism Economics, Vol 11, No 4, pp 555–569.

40.

Kotze

(2006), ‘Cape Town and the Two Oceans marathon: The impact of sport on tourism’, Urban Forum, Vol 17, No 3, pp 282–293.

41.

Kruger

(2009), Spending Behaviour of Visitors to the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, MA dissertation North-West University, Potchefstroom, 66 pp.

42.

Kruger

Saayman

Ellis

S.M.

(2010a), ‘Determinants of visitor expenditure at the Aardklop National Arts Festival’, Event Management, Vol 14, No 2, pp 137–148.

43.

Kruger

Saayman

Rossouw

(2010b), A Marketing Analysis and Economic Impact of the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies, Potchefstroom, 54 pp.

44.

Kruger

Botha

Saayman

(2012), ‘The relationship between visitor spending and repeat visits: An analysis of spectators at the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon’, Acta Commercii, in press.

45.

LaChausse

R.G.

(2006), ‘Motives of competitive and non-competitive cyclists’, Journal of Sport Behaviour, Vol 29, No 4, pp 304–314.

46.

Lee

(2001), ‘Determinants of recreational boater expenditures on trips’. Tourism Management, Vol 22, pp 659–667.

47.

Lee

Babin

B.J.

(2008). ‘Festivalscapes and patrons' emotions, satisfaction and loyalty’, Journal of Business Research, Vol 61, No 1, pp 656–664.

48.

Legohérel

(1998), ‘Toward a market segmentation of the tourism trade: Expenditure levels and consumer behaviour instability’, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol 7, No 3, pp 19–39.

49.

Legoherel

Wong

K.F.

(2006), ‘Market segmentation in the tourism industry and consumers' spending’, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol 20, No 2, pp 15–30.

50.

Lera-Lüpez

Rapún-Gárate

(2005), ‘Sports participation versus consumer expenditure on sport: Different determinants and strategies in sports management’, European Sports Management Quarterly, Vol 5, No 1, pp 167–186.

51.

Letho

X.Y.

O'Leary

J.T.

Morrison

A.M.

(2004), ‘Do psychographics influence vacation destination choices? A comparison of British travellers to North America, Asia and Oceania, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol 8, No 2, pp 109–125.

52.

Long

P.T.

Perdue

R.R.

(1990), ‘The economic impact of rural festivals and special events: Assessing the spatial distribution of expenditures’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 39, No 4, pp 10–14.

53.

McDonald

M.A.

Milne

R.G.

Hong

(2002), ‘Motivational factors for evaluating sport spectator and participant markets’, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol 11, No 2, pp 100–113.

54.

Mak

Moncur

Yonamine

(1977), ‘Determinants of visitor expenditures and visitor lengths of stay: A cross-section analysis of US visitors to Hawaii’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 15, No 3, pp 5–8.

55.

Mehmetoglu

(2007), ‘Nature-based tourists: The relationship between their trip expenditures and activities’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol 15, No 2, pp 200–215.

56.

Mok

Iverson

T.J.

(2000), ‘Expenditure-based segmentation: Taiwanese tourists to Guam’, Tourism Management, Vol 21, No 3, pp 299–305.

57.

Mudambi

Baum

(1997), ‘Strategic segmentation: An empirical analysis of tourist expenditure in Turkey’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 36, No 1, pp 29–34.

58.

Ogles

B.M.

Masters

K.S.

(2003), ‘A typology of marathon runners based on cluster analysis of motivations’, Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol 26, No 1, pp 69–85.

59.

Oppermann

(1997), ‘First-time and repeat tourists to New Zealand’, Tourism Management, Vol 18, No 3, pp 177–181.

60.

Pallant

(2007), SPSS Survival Manual: A Step-By-Step Guide to Data Analysis Using SPSS Version 15, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York.

61.

Pallant

(2010), SPSS Survival Manual: A Step-By-Step Guide to Data Analysis Using SPSS Version 16, 4th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York.

62.

Pan

D.W.

Gabert

T.E.

McGaugh

E.C.

Branvoid

S.E.

(1997), ‘Factors contributing to the purchase of season tickets for intercollegiate basketball games’, Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol 20, pp 447–464.

63.

Perez

E.A.

Sampol

J.C.

(2000), ‘Tourist expenditure for mass tourism markets’, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol 27, No 3, pp 624–637.

64.

Petrick

J.F.

(2004), ‘Are loyal visitors the desired visitors?’, Tourism Management, Vol 25, No 4, pp 463–470.

65.

Pouta

Neuvonen

Sievänen

(2006), ‘Determinants of nature trip expenditures in Southern Finland – implications for nature tourism development’, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Vol 6, No 2, pp 118–135.

66.

Preuss

Sequin

O'Reilly

(2007), ‘Profiling major sport event visitors: The 2002 Commonwealth Games’, Journal of Sport and Tourism, Vol 12, No 1, pp 5–23.

67.

Regan

Carlson

Rosenberger

P.J.

(2009), ‘Examining the antecedents of group-oriented travel behaviour to large-scale events: A conceptual model and propositions’, paper presented at the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference 2009 (ANZMAC 2009). Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference, Melbourne 30 November–2 December, 2009 (http://ogma.newcastle.edu.au:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:9168, accessed: 12 January 2011).

68.

Robinson

M.J.

Trail

G.T.

(2005), ‘Relationship among spectator gender, motives, points of attachment, and sport preference’, Journal of Sport Management, Vol 19, No 1, pp 58–80.

69.

Robinson

M.J.

Trail

G.T.

Kwon

(2004), ‘Motives and points of attachment of professional golf spectators’, Sport Management Review, Vol 7, No 2, pp 187–192.

70.

Saayman

(1997), ‘The economic impact of tourism on the South African economy’, South African Journal for Economic and Management Science, Vol 21, No 1, pp 162–174.

71.

Saayman

(2006), ‘Socio-demographics and visiting patterns of arts festivals in South Africa’, Event Management, Vol 9, No 4, pp 211–222.

72.

Saayman

(2012), ‘Determinants of spending at three major sporting events in South Africa’, International Journal for Tourism Research, Vol 14, No 2, pp 124–138.

73.

Saayman

(2008), ‘Why travel motivations and socio-demographics matter in managing a National Park’, Koedoe, Vol 51, No 1, pp 381–388.

74.

Saayman

Du Plessis

(2005), ‘Analysis of spending patterns of visitors of three world cup cricket matches in Potchefstroom, South Africa’, Journal of Sport Tourism, Vol 10, No 3, pp 211–221.

75.

Saayman

Krugell

Van Der Merwe

(2007), ‘The determinants of spending by biltong hunters’, South African Journal of Economics and Management Science, Vol 10, No 2, pp 184–194.

76.

Schneider

I.E.

Backman

S.J.

(1996), ‘Cross cultural equivalence of festival motivations: A study of Jordan’, Festival Management and Event Tourism, Vol 4, No 3/4, pp 59–71.

77.

Scott

A.K.S.

Turco

D.M.

(2009), ‘Distinguishing event spectator spending profiles: Projected impacts of the 2009 US Open Golf Championship’, Sport Management International Journal, Vol 5, No 1, pp 39–54.

78.

Seiler

V.L.

Seiler

M.J.

Hsieh

(2002), ‘Modeling travel expenditures for Taiwanese tourism’, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol 13, No 4, pp 47–59.

79.

Slabbert

Saayman

Viviers

(2008), Die Socio-Ekonomiese Impak Van Besoekers Aan Die KKNK, Potchefstroom, Instituut vir Toerisme en Vryetydstudies, 58 pp (unpublished).

80.

Spotts

D.M.

Mahoney

E.M.

(1991), ‘Segmenting visitors to a destination region based on the volume of their expenditures’, Business Research Division, Vol 29, No 4, pp 42–31.

81.

82.

Standeven

De Knopp

(1999), Sport Tourism, Human Kinetics, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences see SPSS, Champaign, IL.

83.

Stewart

Smith

A.C.T.

Nicholson

(2003), ‘Sport consumer typologies: A critical review’, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol 12, No 4, pp 206–216.

84.

Steyn

H.S.

(2000), ‘Practical significance of the difference in means’, South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, Vol 26, No 3, pp 1–3.

85.

Streicher

Saayman

(2009), ‘The determinants of spending of participants in the Cape Argus Cycle Tour’, Journal for Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, Vol 32, No 1, pp 121–131.

86.

Sun

Stynes

D.J.

(2006), ‘A note on estimating visitor spending on a per-day/night basis’, Tourism Management, Vol 27, pp 721–725.

87.

Tapp

Clowes

(2002), ‘From ‘care-free casuals’ to ‘professional wanderers’: Segmentation possibilities for football supporters’, European Journal of Marketing, Vol 36, No 11/12, pp 1248–1269.

88.

Taylor

D.T.

Fletcher

R.R.

Clabaugh

(1993), ‘A comparison of characteristics, regional expenditures, and economic impact of visitors to historical sites and other recreational visitors’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 32, No 5, pp 30–35.

89.

Thrane

(2002), ‘Jazz festival visitors and their expenditures: Linking spending patterns to musical interest’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 40, No 3, pp 281–286.

90.

Trail

G.T.

Robinson

M.J.

Dick

R.J.

Gillentine

A.J.

(2003), ‘Motives and points of attachment: Fans versus spectators in intercollegiate athletics’, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol 12, No 4, pp 217–227.

91.

Turco

D.M.

(1998), ‘Residents' perceived social costs and benefits attributed to an international staged attraction’, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol 7, No 1, pp 21–28.

92.

Uysal

McDonald

C.D.

Martin

B.S.

(1994), ‘Australian visitors to US national parks and natural areas’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol 6, No 3, pp 18–24.

93.

Wang

Rompf

Severt

Cannon

T.F.

Ford

(2008), ‘The interrelationship between visitor spending and return visits: An analysis of spectator sport tourists.’ Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators. http://www.a-cme.org/Proceedings/ACME_2008_Proceedings.pdf#page=419 Date of access: 22 May 2010.

94.

Wann

D.L.

Branscombe

N.R.

(1993), ‘Sports fans: Measuring degree of identification with their team’, International Journal of Sport Psychology, Vol 24, No 1, pp 1–17.

95.

Wann

D.L.

Melnick

M.J.

Russel

G.W.

Pease

D.G.

(2001), Sports Fans: The psychology and social impacts of spectators, Routledge, London.

96.

Wicker

Breuer

Pawlowski

(2009), ‘Promoting sport for all to age specific target groups: The impact of sport infrastructure’, European Sports Management Quarterly, Vol 9, No 1, pp 103–118.