Profile, patterns of spending and economic impact of event visitors: evidence from Warnemünder Woche in Germany

In recent years, many coastal cities in Scandinavia and the Baltic region have invested heavily in hosting sailing events as a means to spark local development and as a tool to attract tourists. However, scant research has examined visitors to those events, particularly in terms of their profile characteristics and expenditure patterns. Against this backdrop, this study aims to shed more light on the characteristics of visitors to such events and their spending patterns by using primary data from 1011 attendees to the German sailing event Warnemünder Woche held in Rostock in summer 2013. Insights offered by this research are important from both an economic and a marketing standpoint. Regarding the first point, the study delivers key evidence on visitors’ origin, primary motivation, and average spending, which constitute crucial input variables for future ex ante economic impact assessments of comparable events (e.g. Tall Ships’ Races and other sailing events hosted along the coast in Scandinavia and Baltic countries). Regarding the second, by providing a clear-cut picture of event visitors’ profile and spending patterns, this research offers a fertile agenda for further marketing inquiries and practical endeavors for Warnemünder Woche’s organizers and marketers. Accordingly, several cases for action are highlighted.