The Economics of Sport
  • Sports Economics
  • About
  • Workshop
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • A Primer on Gaelic Games
  • Upcoming Events
  • Media
  • Education
  • Resources & Links
  • Data

Rugby World Cup 2011 International Visitors

20/4/2015

 
By Robbie Butler

Recently, there was been media speculation about the potential economic impact that the 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC) could have on Ireland, if the IRFU were successful in bidding to host the competition. It has been suggested 
the event could be worth up to 1 billion euros in sports tourism and would attract 350,000 international visitors. I hope this is true! What a positive impact this would have on the Irish economy. 

Sadly, an examination of the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, held from the 9th of September to the 23rd of October 2011 would suggest that things can't be that good. Statistics New Zealand Tatauranga Aotearoa provides an overview of the impact of the 2011 RWC on the national economy by considering five key indicators; migration, accommodation, trade, gross domestic product, and balance of payments. This entry will focus on a key question asked in the impact study: How many visitors came to watch the tournament?

According to the impact study, a person arriving in New Zealand is required to fill out an 'arrival card'. The card explains the purpose of their visit. In the months prior to the RWC a 'RWC visitor' was added to the list of reasons for arrival. This way the government had an accurate estimate of how many people arrived solely to attend matches in the competition. Between September 2011 and October 2011, 127,600 visitors arrived for the purposes of the RWC. The table to the right below lists the total international visitors for 2010, 2011 and 2012, for all visiting purposes (e.g. business, holiday, visiting family). In 2011, just over 242,500 visitors arrived during the months September and October. This means approximately 1 in every 2 visitors was their for the RWC. 

The graphic below shows the size of the increase in visitors numbers due to the event being held in New Zealand. There is  an unquestionable increase in visitor numbers during the months September and October, as indicated by the red bar. In September 2010, 99,421 international visitors arrived in the country. This rises to 117,844 in 2011 and falls to 94,452 in 2012. The net increase was approximately from 18,000 to 23,300 . The same is true of October 2010, 2011 and 2012, where the next increase during the RWC year was from 18,000 to 22,000.

Picture
Source: Statsitics New Zealand
Picture
Source: Statsitics New Zealand
In total, while the report finds that 127,600 visitors arrived for the purposes of the RWC, in real terms the impact of this arrival was lessened by what economists refer to as crowding out. A working paper by Victor Matheson and Robert Baade sums this up nicely when they say: 

"Event tourists may simply supplant other travelers who would normally visit the host venues. A competition that attracts one million sports visitors while displacing an equal number of regular visitors is huge event in by gross measures even though the net impact of the event is negligible. A typical survey approach to measuring economic impact will identify a large number of visitors to a mega-event, but will fail to identify those regular visitors who are displaced. A fundamental shortcoming of economic impact studies pertains, therefore, not to information on spending for those who are included in a direct expenditure survey, but rather with the lack of information on the spending behavior for those who are not". 

An examination of the New Zealand figures would suggest that while 127,600 visitors arrived for the purposes of the RWC, the real increase was somewhere between 36,000 and 45,500 extra visitors. If Ireland is to attract 350,000 visitors it will have to be nearly three times more popular than New Zealand and that's before crowding out effects are considered.

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    About

    This website was founded in July 2013.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    American Football
    Athletics
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Behavioural Economics
    Boxing
    Broadcasting
    Competitive Balance
    Cricket
    Cycling
    Darts
    David Butler
    Declan Jordan
    Drugs
    Ed Valentine
    Epl
    Esports
    Expenditure
    F1
    Fifa World Cup
    Finances
    Funding
    Gaa
    Gaelic Games
    Gambling
    Game Theory
    Gary Burns
    Geography
    Golf
    Greyhound Racing
    Guest Posts
    Horse Racing
    Impact Studies
    John Considine
    John Eakins
    League Of Ireland
    Location
    Media
    Mls
    Mma
    Olympics
    Participation
    Paul O'Sullivan
    Premier League
    Regulation
    Research
    Robbie Butler
    Rugby
    Simpsonomics
    Snooker
    Soccer
    Spatial Analysis
    Sporting Bodies
    Stephen Brosnan
    Swimming
    Taxation
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tennis
    Transfers
    Uefa
    Ufc
    World Cup
    Wwe

Related

The website is not formally affiliated to any institution and all of the entries represent the personal views and opinions of an individual contributor. The website operates on a not-for-profit basis. For this reason we decline all advertisement opportunities. 

Contact

To contact us email sportseconomics2013@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @SportEcon.