TOKYO - The number of foreign tourists participating in citizen marathons has increased dramatically. With host cities seeing a significant economic impact due to increased demand for accommodations and meals, local governments and the tourism industry are noticing the potential for “running tourism.”
“Running tourism” refers to people going somewhere primarily for the purpose of running a marathon, but also enjoying sightseeing. It can have a significant economic effect on regional tourism, in the form of increased demand for mainly accommodations and meals. The impact of the 2015 Kobe Marathon on the regional economy is estimated at roughly 5.7 billion yen (about $53,654,670).
The World Heritage Himeji Castle Marathon was held on Feb. 28 in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture. Kwong Tin Sang from Hong Kong not only completed this race, he also ran the Kyoto Marathon a week earlier on Feb. 21.
“I was so happy to hear cheers of ‘Keep going!’ from the side of the road. The scenery is also beautiful. Japan’s marathons are very good,” Kwong, 49, said happily. Between competitions, he enjoyed sightseeing in places such as Kyoto and Mt. Rokko in Hyogo Prefecture.
According to JTB Western Japan, Corp., marathons in Japan are increasingly popular with foreign runners because traffic restrictions are well organized and there is a lot of encouraging cheering from the roadside. In the fifth Osaka Marathon in 2015, a total of 7,478 of the 137,814 entries were foreigners, five times the number of foreigners in the first one. The 10th Tokyo Marathon in 2016 also saw six times more foreign runners at 6,456.
According to research by the Japan Tourism Agency, foreign visitors to Japan spend an average of 151,174 yen ($1,423) per person, excluding the costs of flights to and from Japan. This is about 100,000 yen higher than Japanese tourists spend on a domestic trip.
“Foreign runners tend to stay for relatively long periods of time and always stay the nights before and after a competition. Participation by foreigners will almost certainly boost the economy,” an official of a travel company said. Local governments and other organizations are therefore looking for ways to organize marathon events to attract foreign runners.
Osaka Marathon organizers started publicizing information about their event to the overseas media in 2013 and began accepting online entries in Chinese and Korean in 2014, in addition to Japanese and English.
The inaugural Koya Ryujin Skyline Ultra Marathon to be held in Koya, Wakayama Prefecture, in September 2016 has commissioned such tasks as accepting participants to JTB Western Japan, due to the company’s expertise in dealing with foreign tourists.
The company offers package tour deals such as an accommodation plan in which participants can stay in a temple lodging in the Koyasan area, a popular tourist destination.
“Foreigners’ tastes are beginning to shift from shopping to experience-oriented forms of tourism, such as sports. To increase the number of participants, it’s important to publicize information on both the appeal of the competition and places of interest in the area,” said Prof. Hiroaki Ninomiya at Doshisha University’s Faculty of Health and Sports Science.
According to R-bies, the Tokyo-based publisher of Runners magazine, the number of full marathon competitions with courses certified by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations has increased from 47 in 2007 to 73 in 2014.
The Hakodate Marathon in Hokkaido will take place in June and the Mito Komon Manyu Marathon in Ibaraki Prefecture in October, both for the first time with JAAF-approved courses.
According to Prof. Munehiko Harada at Waseda University’s Faculty of Sport Sciences, if all the marathon events were included, such as those with uncertified courses and fun-oriented events in which runners eat local specialties as they run, the number of marathon events would reach 2,000 per year.
There are many marathons in large cities and near tourist spots that are extremely popular, such as the Osaka and Kyoto marathons, where four times the maximum number of participants apply, and the Tokyo Marathon, where 11 times the capacity apply. However, there are also marathon events that do not have enough runners.
“Marathon competitions used to have the luxury of selecting participants, but now participants choose the races. In the future, the industry will likely become more and more polarized,” Waseda’s Harada said.
He suggested one way to increase the number of participants might be to attract more foreign runners by highlighting Japanese-style hospitality more.
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