MISSOULA — The Missoula Marathon is coming to town, bringing thousands of travelers into Missoula, and those visitors will be bringing big economic impacts to the local businesses in the area.
This is because those travelers not only come for the marathon but also for Missoula itself, often spending millions of dollars at local businesses across town.
“We're looking at about between like 3 million to 3.5 million in estimated economic impact for Missoula," Destination Missoula Sales Manager Emily Rolston told MTN.
Local businesses also see the money roll in with an increase in sales compared to the rest of the year.
“Maybe 30, 35% increase. I do notice that, you know, it is, we see new people and so we're pricing a lot of families from the marathon people that maybe don't get downtown or maybe they're from out of state," Market on Front owner Dennis Round said.
While the Missoula Marathon only lasts a day, travelers often come in a couple of days in advance and spend time in town exploring the local business scene — and this is where all of that money comes in.
Some businesses, like the Holiday Inn, have a sellout weekend and look forward to this time of year.
“Us in hospitality, we are just excited all the time to welcome and have these sell out types of weekends. You know, we can really showcase the restaurants, shops, all the hotels, everyone benefits and we're just excited who just amps us all up” said Annie Darby, the general manager of Holiday Inn in downtown Missoula.
But the increase in traffic sometimes comes at a cost to locals in the area, with some choosing to stay away from businesses they frequent due to all of the people in town.
“I would assume some of our regulars tend to stay away because it is hard to get to us and it's crowded. And so I'm sure they stay away that weekend because of that” Round said.
Besides just the immediate impacts felt by the increase in traffic, the Missoula Marathon also has a contagious way of spreading word of mouth from visitors who come from around the world with some often coming back and further helping put Missoula on the world map.
“It has such an amazing reputation. You know, it's been top of, you know, marathons in the United States for multiple years. People have such an incredible time when they're coming in for this race and participating in the race. And so I think really broadly that shows it's great PR for, for our community and for Missoula,” Rolston relaid to MTN.
Overall, the Missoula Marathon is a huge driver of the local economy, and often times this boost in revenue helps businesses weather the slower winter months according to Destination Missoula.
The Missoula Marathon is this weekend and once again KPAX is a proud partner of the Missoula Marathon.
Join Jill Valley, Lewis Dortch and Kyle Hansen on Sunday at 8 a.m. as we will be live from the finish line bringing you race day excitement.
That starts at 8 a.m. on MTN and on the KPAX Streaming App. To find where to watch MTN visit https://mtnmontana.com/.
