Byline: David M. Halbfinger The Boston Globe
BOSTON -- It's bigger than a papal visit. Taller than the Tall Ships. More powerful than the World Cup.
Well, it's big, anyway.
It's - the economic impact of the 100th Boston Marathon.
Amid growing hype about the April 15 race, marathon officials have turned on the hyperbole, projecting a splendiferous $140 million in spending by runners and spectators visiting the city.
``The tide is rolling in, and we are not going to stop it,'' gushed Guy Morse, head of the Boston Athletic Association, organizer of the race, during a breakfast briefing last month at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.
``If you took the NCAA Final Four, the NFL Super Bowl, then added on top of that Mardi Gras, probably then you could begin to measure the impact of what's going on,'' said Patrick B. Moscaritolo, president of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Moscaritolo later said he was exaggerating for effect. But he also said he expects the marathon weekend to inject more business into the local economy, in a shorter time, than a number of big tourist events in Boston's recent history.
``The Tall Ships celebration in 1992 was spread out over 10 days. The World Cup in '94 was spread over four weeks,'' he said. ``The pope's visit in 1979 lasted three hours, but it wasn't a big economic generator.''
He called this year's marathon ``the largest single event, in terms of economic impact to the visitor and tourist industry, that the city has ever seen.''
Last year's race contributed an estimated $45 million to local businesses, he said. But the marathon's centennial has drawn unusually high interest.
About 1.5 million people are expected to line the 26.2-mile race course, giving vendors and local businesses a big boost.
Of the 37,500 official entrants this year, about 5,500 are from Massachusetts, 22,000 from other states, and 10,000 from foreign countries. Runners are expected to bring another 38,000 guests.
Beverly Browning, a 46-year-old writer from Gainesville, Fla., who heads up a 100-member road racing club in that city, said she expects a large contingent of runners from Jacksonville to Ocala will come to Boston in April.
At her request, Moscaritolo is sending an emissary to Gainesville this month to brief the north Florida runners.
``We're going to have a meeting in March, with baked beans and Sam Adams beer, and find out what restaurants to eat in and what to do in Boston,'' she said.
Browning said her group makes an event of its annual trips to the New York City Marathon, spending an average of $1,000 per person per day over a full week. ``It'll be exactly like that in Boston,'' she said.
But her group may not be typical.
Moscaritolo, who drafted the economic impact report, cautioned that it rests on several key assumptions that were somewhat arbitrary, including a much larger figure than the Convention and Visitors Bureau normally uses to measure indirect spending.
Economists generally take all such so-called multipliers with heavy doses of skepticism.
Still, Moscaritolo's estimates did not include state receipts of income and sales taxes, $300,000 that the Athletic Association is paying to municipalities along the race route, and hotel taxes, which vary among municipalities.
All the hotels in Boston and Cambridge are already booked for the marathon, despite a minimum four-night stay, Moscaritolo said.
Marathon Tours and Travel, which is operating a hotel hotline for out-of-town visitors, has already begun booking rooms as far away as Brockton, Shrewsbury and Marlborough, said owner Tom Gilligan. ``Hopefully, we don't have to go out of state. But we're moving in that direction,'' he said.
A representative of the Boston Athletic Association said the World Trade Center has already begun cooking and freezing in preparation for the ``pasta load,'' sponsored by Ronzoni, on the eve of the Marathon. It could draw as many as 30,000 runners seeking a carbohydrate buildup.
But Browning, of Gainesville, said her group will avoid the crush and the pressure of being ``surrounded by a lot of really neurotic people.''
``We like to go out, take over a restaurant, and drink wine,'' she said.
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Oficials expect the 100th running of the Boston Marathon on April 15 to attract 37,500 runners and generate more than $45 million for local businesses. By Stephan Savoia / Associated Press / 1991.
