Expenditures of CEE and Non-CEE Spectators in Major International Sport Events in Hungary

Abstract

Purpose: Investigation of consumer behavior of CEE and non-CEE spectators in Liebherr 2019 ITTF Table Tennis World Championships and 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships and its economic impact. Methodology: In the research on two major international sport events, we surveyed n = 635 foreign spectators. Independent-samples T tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, ANOVA tests, chi-square tests, and linear regression modeling were performed for the statistical tests and fiscal multipliers from the Hungarian sectoral input-output model were applied to calculate economic impact. Findings: CEE spectators spend on average 2.27 guest nights attending major international sport events in Hungary, whereas non-CEE spectators spend 4.74 guest night on average. All spectators rated Hungarian people’s hospitality very high (4.6 out of 5) and were well-satisfied with the quality of organization of the events (4.4 out of 5). Non-CEE spectators visited more sights, rented better accommodation, spent larger amounts on the event than CEE spectators, but they are unlikely to return to Hungary as soon as CEE spectators will. Foreign spectators’ expenditure in two events analyzed contributed EUR 1,415,743 to the Hungarian GDP in 2019 and because of their expenditure, EUR 584,524 in taxes was paid to the Hungarian budget in 2019. All in all, CEE spectators came to Hungary to major international sport events mostly for the professional experience, whereas non-CEE spectators came for a complex experience package. Research limitations: Findings cannot be generalized to expenditure in other countries. Originality: Results are original for major international events organized in Hungary, but most of the results are original in international comparison as well.

Keywords

• major international sport events
• spectators’ spending
• economic impact