Report: Tour de Georgia brought $38M to state

This year’s Tour de Georgia brought almost $40 million in economic impact to the state, a university study has found. The estimated total is about 40 percent more than last year.

North Georgia College and University determined economic impact using data collected by crowd intercept surveys at all race starts and finishes.

The Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development of Georgia Southern University was responsible for data input and analysis. A total of 1,196 completed surveys were collected between April 21-27 at the 12 host communities that staged either a start or finish.

“We can’t tell how much of the change (from 2007) is due to methodology, but 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, Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development at Georgia Southern University. “Some of the increase is also due to the significant increase in the number of international visitors. The increase in international visitors is probably due to the devaluation of the dollar making a U.S. trip more affordable.”

Economic indicators included assessment of dollars spent by visitors (residents of the area not included) for meals, lodging, transportation, retail and miscellaneous recreation. Analysis of crowd sizes was determined by Georgia State Patrol and local law enforcement estimates.

While the attendance figures for 2008 were down 20% from last year — over 400,000 this year compared to 515,000 in 2007 and 500,000 in 2006 — spending was up significantly during the event.

2008 Overall State Direct Economic Impact:

• $38.6 million is an increase of 40 percent from 2007, which generated a direct economic impact of $27.56 million
• 41 percent of spectators indicated they stayed more than one night during their visit to Georgia, specifically to watch the race
• Of those overnight visitors, 6 percent were International visitors (an overall increase of 5 percent from 2007)
• The average overnight visitor spent $380 per day at the Tour; 55% of that going to accommodations and transportation costs.

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