"This is going to be amazing for the city," said Event Promotions' Emma Wilson. "This will be the biggest event in Rotorua for a long time and everyone is starting to get really excited."
Of the 10,000 expected entries, about 9000 will be from outside Rotorua.
"There's generally two spectators per athlete so that's a lot of people for this event. It will be huge and the likes of Eat Streat will be packed."
A third of all entries so far are from Auckland, which Destination Rotorua Marketing general manager Oscar Nathan has called "encouraging" and a sign the Famously Rotorua message was getting through.
"A big event like the Rotorua Marathon and the Famously Rotorua campaign work well together as the event provides a good reason for people to plan a weekend in our city," he said.
An independent survey was carried out by APR Consultants in 2010 of people participating in the marathon that year. It revealed expenditure per participant was $430. That included $245 on accommodation, $153 on shopping/retail and $122 on food/beverages.
Based on current registrations, that could mean a direct spend from out-of-town entrants of $2.6 million into the Rotorua economy, APR said, but should the marathon reach forecast entries, with each athlete bringing two spectators, their total spend in Rotorua for the marathon could be as much as $11 million.
Event Promotions is holding a number of activities in the lead-up to the race as well as recovery runs on the Sunday.
