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Winter-Sport-Tourism and the Economic Impact of Sport Organizations Journal of Business and Economics, ISSN 2155-7950, USA November 2018, Volume 9, No. 11, pp. 947-957 DOI: 10.15341/jbe(2155-7950)/11.09.2018/004 Academic Star Publishing Company, 2018 http://www.academicstar.us Winter-Sport-Tourism and the Economic Impact of Sport Organizations: A Case Study for Austria Michael Steiner1, Wolfgang Alteneder2 (1. Institute of Economics, University of Graz, Austria; 2. Synthesis Forschung GmbH, Austria) Abstract: There is a growing interest in role of institutions organizing and supporting sport activities. The focus of the paper is the relationship between the institution that organizes on a professional level competitive as well as leisure forms of winter sports, namely Ski Austria, and the economic effect and outcome of its efforts. For this purpose trends in Austrian winter sport and tourism are given and its economic dimensions both from a macro and micro perspective are calculated. From this basis the impact of the manifold activities of Ski Austria and its potential to create impulses for the inclination to exercise winter sports is evaluated. The effects are measured in analogy to advertising and marketing activities leading to quantitative dimensions in terms of value added, employment and income. In interpreting the economic effects the paper also emphasizes the public/private and catalytic character and the social context of all activities of Ski Austria. Key words: winter sport and tourism; role of sport organizations; analogy to advertising; public-private partnership JEL codes: L32, M37, Z20, Z33 1. In Search of the Impact of Sport Organizations It is nowadays a trivial statement to point to the close relationship between sport and the economy — it takes many forms, involves huge amounts of money and many actors both on the active as well on the passive side. This importance does not only concentrate on top professional sport activities but extends also to many leisure sports. And it extends also to the institutional framework of sport and to the institutions running and supporting sport activities. It is already less trivial to look at specific forms of this relationship and its quantitative and qualitative dimensions. Sport activities and sport (mega) events generate economic effects — for the participants, for hosting countries, but also for the organizing institutions. An in the meantime vast and growing literature tries to get hold of these effects using different methodological approaches (for recent contributions see e.g., Baade & Matheson, 2016; Flyvbjerg et al., 2016; Kozak, 2015; Müller, 2014; Philips, 2012; Preuss, 2007). A specific aspect of these relations is the role of organizing institutions dominating not only the sportive but also economic game (such as FIFA, UEFA, IOC, see e.g., Zeyringer, 2018). Michael Steiner, Dr., Professor, Institute of Economics, University of Graz; research areas/interests: economic policy, regional economics, economics of sports. E-mail: [email protected]. Wolfgang Alteneder, Mag., Synthesis Forschung GmbH; research areas/interests: applied economics, economic models. E-mail: Waatsynthesis.co.at. 947 Winter-Sport-Tourism and the Economic Impact of Sport Organizations: A Case Study for Austria The specific focus of the paper is the relationship between the institution that organizes on a professional level competitive as well as leisure forms of winter sports, namely the Austrian Skiing Association (Österreichischer Skiverband/ÖSV — in the following Ski Austria) and the economic outcome and effects of its organizing efforts. Winter tourism is an important sector of the Austrian economy and nurtured by both native and foreign sportsmen and women. Yet winter sport activities are not automatically self-sustaining, they have to be supported and sustained in order to develop lasting effects. Without efficient institutions creating sufficient impulses and motivations for winter sport activities these effects may decline and vanish over the long run. The basic question therefore concentrates on the impact of Ski Austria with its wide range of activities on the Austrian economy. Or put differently: To what extend would the Austrian economy have to experience losses without the existence and the activities of Ski Austria leading to a decline in winter sport activities? The paper is organized as follows: In Section 2 the interest in winter sport and the quantitative development of winter tourism is described and its economic dimensions calculated. We concentrate on the period from 2002/3 to 2012/13 because of the changing economic situation including the economic and financial crisis of 2008/9 and the following resilience. From this demand of winter tourism and sport we calculate its economic dimension. In Section 3 Ski Austria will be presented. We will point to its organizing ability and to its challenge to function as communicator and motivator and indicate its potential to create impulses for the inclination to exercise winter sports. In Section 4 the quantitative dimensions of such impulses on these activities are derived. Here we take a special approach — we measure these effects in analogy to advertising and marketing activities. In a final chapter we will give an evaluation of these dimensions and we will emphasize the “catalytic” and public-private character of Skiing Austria. 2. Winter sport, winter tourism, and its economic effects The interest in winter sports in Austria maybe analyzed at different levels. We take as a hard criterion for this interest to spend money on it, especially by staying and booking in winter resorts. As the broad literature on winter tourism shows there is a strong link between winter sport and winter tourism (albeit with changes in kind and intensity of winter sport practice and the need to diversify the offer of the winter sport sector — see Zellmann & Mayrhofer, 2015; Arbesser et al., 2010; Manova, 2010; Bourdeau, 2009; Macchiavelli, 2009). Although not every winter tourist practices sport the motives for booking in winter resorts overlap and are closely related to snow-bound activities. We take the period of a decade (2002/3 to 2012/13) with changing economic situations, overlapping business cycles including the economic crisis and the following upswing. This period shows a clear increase in demand. The number of overnight stays of domestic Austrians increased year by year. Their number rose over the 10 years by 17 percent and amounted in 2012/13 to 15.323.000. Since there is an ongoing trend to high value hotels (four and five stars) the financial expenditures rose even more strongly. Quantitatively even more important for the interest in winter sports in Austria is the demand of foreign guests. Their number of overnight bookings amounted to about 50, 3 million. The relation of foreign to domestic guests hence approaches approximately 3 to 1. 948 Winter-Sport-Tourism and the Economic Impact of Sport Organizations: A Case Study for Austria Figure 1 Overnight-stays Development of Domestic Visitors in the Winter Season Number of Overnight-Says (Index: 2002/2003 = 100) Source: Austrian Statistical Office, Tourism Austria 2013 Figure 2 Total Overnight-Stays 2012/2013: 65,559,000 Source: Austrian Statistical Office, Tourismus Osterreich 2008, 2013 Half of the demand of foreign guests comes from Germany. This interest keeps its level — over the period it stayed constant. 11 percent of foreign guests come from the Netherlands with a small decline of about 1 percent. A stronger decline was experienced by guests from Great Britain — minus 3.3 percent with a share of 4 percent. A strong increase of 8 percent at the same level of share as Great Britain happened with guests from Switzerland and Liechtenstein; obviously the revaluation of the Swiss frank shows its influence. About a tenth of all foreign demand comes from “new” countries with interest in skiing: Czechia, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania. With mixed developments: Russia with very strong, Czechia with strong increase, Poland and Rumania stagnate, Hungary declines. 949 Winter-Sport-Tourism and the Economic Impact of Sport Organizations: A Case Study for Austria Figure 3 Total Amount Overnight-Stay of Foreign Guests 2012/2013: 50,326,900 Source: Austrian Statistical Office, Tourism Austria 2008, 2013 Over a longer period — two decades — the interest in winter sports shows a steady increase of 1.2 percent annual growth. This applies both for domestic and foreign demand. This growth is not uniform: There is an overlap of a long term trend with cycles: short term declines in the first half of the nineties and again during the crisis of 2008/9. Nevertheless, the trend and its increase is due to winter sport: city tourism amounts only to 12 percent of all bookings during the winter season. Figure 4 Winter-Tourism Developments Increase with Some Throwbacks (Total Overnight-Stays) Source: Austrian Statistical Office, Tourism Austria 2013 The interest for winter sports of domestic and foreign children, adolescents, women and men leads to expenditures on a macroeconomic level for Austria of 14.7 billion Euro. 8.2 billion Euro are caused by the demand of foreign guests, 6.5 billion Euro by domestic guests. This can be split into different kind of demands: tourists with overnight stays and day-trip guests. The role of day-trip demand is not negligible — 27 percent of expenditures are due to this form of enjoying days of skiing. This of course relies on a certain vicinity to skiing resorts. Nevertheless, trips up to several hours are taken up in order to
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