Tour de Georgia packing larger economic wallop
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Dave Williams Staff Writer
This year's Tour de Georgia delivered a far larger boost to the state's economy than the 2007 race despite a smaller attendance, the event's sponsors reported Thursday.
The week-long stop on the professional cycling tour, which concluded on April 27 in Atlanta, generated $38.6 million in direct economic impact, according to a survey of race attendees in the 12 communities across the state that hosted each day's starts and finishes.
That's up 40 percent from the $27 million generated during last year's race, even though attendance fell to just more than 400,000, down 20 percent.
"We believe that one of the reasons for the large increase (in economic impact) over last year is inflation, particularly in gasoline," said Phyllis Isley, director of Georgia Southern University's Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development, which analyzed the data. "Some of the increase is also due to the significant increase in the number of international visitors ... probably due to the devaluation of the dollar making a U.S. trip more affordable."
The survey of nearly 1,200 visitors looked at spending for meals, lodging, transportation, retail and recreation.
Among its findings were that 41 percent of those who traveled to Georgia specifically for the race stayed more than one night. Six percent of those overnight visitors were international tourists.
Also, the average overnight visitor spent $380 a day, with 55 percent of that money going to lodging and transportation.
Since its inception in 2003, the Tour de Georgia -- sponsored by AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) -- has become the most popular U.S. stop on the pro cycling tour.
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