This year’s Boston Marathon generated more than half a billion dollars in economic activity around the region and supported thousands of local jobs in the retail and hospitality sectors, according to a new study announced Thursday by the Boston Athletic Association and Meet Boston, the city’s visitors bureau.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute analyzed the impact of the annual race, which drew more than 34,000 runners from around the world. In total, 81% of this year’s runners’ field came from outside the state and New England region in general.
According to the report, the BAA’s operational costs, as well as spending by runners, spectators, businesses and local households amounted to $509.1 million in economic activity.
“This very special event that everybody loves has really grown to a new level,” BAA President and CEO Jack Fleming told reporters Thursday outside BAA headquarters, adding that economic spending was “the largest figure that the Boston Marathon has ever produced.”
The bulk of the economic activity generated by the marathon came from visitor spending, with spectators spending money on travel and accommodations as well as food, shopping, local attractions and marathon events, the report found.
Most of these spectators — 60% — came from outside of Massachusetts, according to the report. The bulk of those spectators — 43% — came from a state outside New England while 9% came from a New England state outside Massachusetts and 7% traveled from a different country.
“They’re coming from a ways to stand on the side of the street and cheer,” said Rod Motamedi, assistant director of the UMass Donahue Institute. “It’s important enough to them and it’s high profile enough to them to take the time, effort, expense to do that. And that, to me, was surprising.”
Motamedi said this is the first economic analysis of the Boston Marathon that has included a survey of spectators.
In addition to the race, Marathon weekend includes a 5K, an invitational mile event, a runners’ expo, fan fest and post-race party. According to the BAA’s Fleming, the event is really a “city takeover” with lots of other programming that attracts visitors.
The report shed light on other spillover spending around Marathon weekend: spectators who stayed in Boston spent a median nightly hotel cost of $429 and their median expenditures on other activities was $500. Those who stayed outside the city spent a median nightly hotel cost of $250 and a median expenditure of $200.
The marathon also supported about 2,900 jobs in the state, the report found.
Martha Sheridan, CEO of Meet Boston, said the marathon is particularly a boon for the local hospitality industry and allows many workers to pick up extra shifts.
“It’s all hands on deck that weekend,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan said the report will serve as a “benchmark” the visitors bureau can use to compare the economic impact of future marathons and other large scale events.