The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

MARATHON Bahamas organisers yesterday said hotel room nights generated by visiting athletes and their relatives would "easily exceed 2,000", with "one of the nation's leading sports tourism events" providing a much-needed resort industry boost during a lull in the winter calendar.

Brian Moodie, president of Sunshine Insurance and the two-day event's lead organiser, said current projections were for the marathon, plus the Susan G. Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure, to collectively attract between 2,500-3,000 participants.

Overseas marathon participants were already matching 2011's 400 total two weeks prior to the January 15 start date, Mr Moodie told Tribune Business, attributing this at least partly to the "e-mail blasts" and 500,000 flyers promoting Marathon Bahamas that were handed out to runners at similar events throughout the US.

Describing the potential spin-offs created for Bahamian businesses by Marathon Bahamas as "limitless", Mr Moodie pointed out that the link with the Susan G. Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure was also helping to attract some "pretty influential people" to this nation, as well as highlighting this nation's cancer care capabilities.

And, noting that Marathon Bahamas had expanded to the point where it required a $400,000 budget to run, Mr Moodie said sponsors and corporate donors had to-date provided "just over" $300,000 in funding.

"For Race Weekend last year we were just shy of 400 persons who came in from abroad, and this year we're pretty much at that 400 number before the last flurry comes in," Mr Moodie told Tribune Business.

"On average, those people are coming in for three-four nights, and are coming with three-four people. It's not just one-two people coming; they're travelling with family members.

"Typically, they are fairly well established with high disposable income. These people are travelling four-five times a year to go to these events. We feel that as far as room nights are concerned, we will easily exceed 2,000 room nights for the month of January."

Marathon Bahamas and the Susan G. Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure are being held from January 14-15. Mid-January is traditionally a quiet time for the Nassau/Paradise Island resort industry, representing a lull between the Christmas/New Year period and the peak February-April winter tourism season, so the boost in room nights and hotel occupancies stemming from Marathon Bahamas is especially timely.

Mr Moodie said organisers were "so much further ahead" with the 2012 event, the third version, thanks largely to intensive international promotional initiatives undertaken during 2011.

"We went to lots of marathon events throughout the eastern seabaord and the Caribbean, particularly the Jamaican marathon, because that was slated as one of our main competitors," he explained.

Some 500,000 Marathon Bahamas promotional flyers were handed out at 20-30 US-based marathons, with "e-mail blasts" another tactic employed. Apart from targeting Susan G Komen's 80,000-strong database, and that of Spirit Airlines', Mr Moodie said race management company, Split Second Timing, had also assisted with the e-mail offensive.

As an example of the entrepreneurial opportunities created by Marathon Bahamas, Mr Moodie said Split Second Timing had formed a relationship with a Bahamian, Lee McCoy, whereby he will act as their local Bahamian representative going forward.

The Sunshine Insurance president said Mr McCoy had spotted 'a gap in the market", namely that there was no company providing "high-end timing" services for the numerous sporting events and races taking place in the Bahamas on an annual basis.

"We can't see every opportunity this event brings, but they're limitless," Mr Moodie told Tribune Business. He pointed to the Official Race Expo, held at the British Colonial Hilton on the Saturday before the marathon, and the Race Village after the event, as opportunities for firms involved in the health, sports and wellness businesses, such as gyms and spas, to showcase their products and services.

"The economic impact is real," Mr Moodie said. "The opportunities are still out there. You're looking at in excess of 2,000 people when you look at the wives and entourages the runners are coming with. It's growing, and continues to grow."

The tie-in with the Susan G. Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure, which started in 2011, had "exceeded the level of expectation" and increased participation in the two events tremendously, Mr Moodie said.

The inaugural Marathon Bahamas, just featuring the marathon and half-marathon, attracted some 500 persons in 2010, but the addition of the Susan G. Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure took this to a 2,200 total last year.

While registration for the marathon took "a fairly continuous straight line" from October onwards, growing steadily by the week, registration for the Susan G. Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure had "spiked" towards the end last year.

One week out, the inaugural 2011 event had just 200 participants, but with 800 persons registering in the last week, the Susan G. Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure ended up with about 1,000.

"We're hoping for that this year," Mr Moodie told Tribune Business. "We've budgeted hoping for close to 3,000, and will certainly know in one week's time, but projections are taking us somewhere between 2,500-3,000. We are probably looking at somewhere in the mid-2,000s."

The Ministry of Tourism had encouraged Marathon Bahamas to move forward in the calendar, the first event having been held in mid-February. Now, in mid-January, it coincides with the Martin Luther King Day Weekend holiday in the US, a date that encourages Americans, in particular, to travel.

"The economic contribution is in those people coming to visit," Mr Moodie told Tribune Business. "We formed this thing as kind of a health awareness, sports tourism product. It's certainly become larger than Sunshine Insurance and one entity. It's become one of the nation's premier sports tourism events."

The Sunshine Insurance president said more than 400 volunteers were required to stage Marathon Bahamas, something that needed assistance from schools, civic organisations and the Governor General's Youth Award program.

Planning for this year's event had started before the 2011 variety had finished, and Mr Moodie added: "We're approaching a budget north of $400,000. We originally thought we could do it for a lot less, but it all adds up. We have, as one of the partners, Deloitte, who make sure the 'i's' are dotted and the 't's' crossed, and it all adds up. It's a $400,000 proposition."

To-date, Marathon Bahamas has received "slightly over" $300,000 from corporate sponsors, and Mr Moodie said it was hoping for several more to come in and "make up that shortfall" of around $100,000.