Running races are extremely profitable businesses for Budapest

According to vg.hu, the number of foreign participants in any of the 3 largest running races of Budapest (K&H Move, Wizz Air, SPAR Budapest Marathon) has increased by 15% and it was mainly the foreigners who spent more than 10 million euros (3 billion forints) in the capital during these events.

The 3 largest running races of Budapest attracted around 75,000 people in 2017 that broke all records and surpassed all expectations. According to previous estimations, the number of foreign participants has increased by 15%, the demand for accommodation has augmented by 10% this year, while the number of nights spent in the capital exceeded the magic number of 70,000, reported Árpád Kocsis, the Tournament Director of the Budapest Sports Office.

He further remarked that he himself was taken aback by how much potential lies in the 3 internationally recognised running competitions of Budapest. What is more, this potentiality further increases because not only the number of competitions escalates year by year, but that of the participants as well.

Running tourism, within the dynamically extending branches of tourism, produces outstanding results, and this year’s growth rate surpassed the average in almost all countries.

In addition to this, the year of 2017 is an immense milestone for Budapest as the sum of money spent on accommodation, food, registration fees for the competitors and their adherents surmounted the 10 million euros (3 billion forints).

According to a research conducted last year by KPMG, this means around 130 euros (40,000 forints) of expenditure on a daily basis and on average, 3.4 nights spent in hotels during the 2 half marathons. As for the SPAR marathon and its accompanying programmes, visitors spent approximately 455 euros (140,000 forints).