Rotorua Marathon to bring $11m to economy

Sam Werford wins the Rotorua marathon 2013.

The Rotorua Marathon is expected to bring up to $11 million into the local economy with an estimated 30,000 visitors heading to town.

Organisers say the 50th anniversary of the race on May 3 will be the biggest in the event's history and the largest marathon field in New Zealand.

Entries have already topped the 7000 mark with 4000 people taking on the iconic 42.2km marathon. There is also a half-marathon, quarter-marathon and 5km event.

Organisers Event Promotions expect to break 10,000 by race day as hundreds of entries are made each day.

The entry numbers eclipse those for the Auckland and Wellington marathons. The previous largest Rotorua Marathon was the 25th in 1989 when 6300 runners entered.

"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.