Tarawera Ultramarathon contributes more than $2mil to local economy

Australian Reece Edwards sprints across the finish line to win the Tarawera Ultramarathon's 102km race. Photo / File

The Tarawera Ultramarathon has contributed more into the local economy than ever before, with latest figures showing a $2.1 million spinoff for Rotorua from hosting the event in February this year.

The rest of New Zealand benefited by an extra $2 million.

The figures come from an independent report commissioned by the event's new owners, IRONMAN New Zealand. Events like Tarawera have a disproportionate contribution to local economies, Managing Director of IRONMAN Oceania Dave Beeche said.

These events encourage visitors to New Zealand to travel out to the regions, and have a different kind of experience here.

The high number of international participants and their "disproportionately large" spend is what Beeche thinks is behind the jump. And with growing interest from overseas competitors, it may get bigger yet.

While the report into the economic impact revealed February's event brought in a large financial contribution, the real benefit was even wider.

He said the huge media coverage of the event on a picture-perfect day generated publicity around the world that money couldn't buy.

The global superstars of trail running showed up this year and did not disappoint. High drama in both the premiere 100 mile and 102k events saw lead changes during the race and some close finishes had the crowds yelling right down the finish line.

This year, just under half of the 2000 runners who took part were from overseas, Mr Beeche said.

Total race numbers were well above the 1450-strong field from 2018. Including supporters and spectators, 4700 people attended this year's Ultramarathon. An incredible 3,800 of them were visitors from outside the Bay of Plenty region.

"Almost all of the participant growth has been word of mouth rather than any specific overseas marketing push. This year saw the introduction of a new 20k event and a 50k – both of which had several hundred entrants. Rotorua has a unique combination of clean lakes and rivers together with a variety of native bush and planted forest that cannot be found in many parts of the world."

"International runners were from 38 countries and each spent more than twice as much as each domestic runner while they stay in the Rotorua area. On average, each runner brought two extra people with them and stayed three nights in Rotorua."

The event generated more than 12,000 bed nights for Rotorua and an additional 7,000 bed nights for the rest of New Zealand.

Event founder Paul Charteris said he thought that IRONMAN's involvement meant future events would attract even more international participants. Charteris said IRONMAN was the world's largest running events company and brought with them the tools to drive international runner numbers and create quality experiences.

Deputy Mayor Dave Donaldson said Rotorua had always been recognised as delivering quality events and the Tarawera Ultra stood out as one of those.

He said it wasn't just about the direct economic impact but the international visitors who went away and told good stories about their time in Rotorua.

"The Tarawera Ultramarathon showcases some of our most stunning scenery."

He said the economic impact was "reassuring" and the benefits were widespread.

Entries for the 2020 Tarawera Ultra go on sale on June 5, with the event taking place on Saturday February 8, 2020.