2009 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings Economic Impact Assessment Released
February 11, 2010 (Ottawa) - The economic impact assessment of the 2009 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings was released today by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA). The event was held in Edmonton, Alberta, from December 6 – 13, 2009 and qualified Canada’s entries into the curling competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The combined spending of approximately 8,400 visitors to the City of Edmonton, plus the revenues and expenditures of the host organizing committee, the media and others as a result of hosting the event totaled $10.7 million, generating an estimated $24 million in economic activity for the Province of Alberta, of which $17.9 million occurred in the City of Edmonton. These expenditures supported $7.0 million in wages and salaries in the province through the support of 176 jobs, of which an estimated 142 jobs were based in Edmonton. The total net economic activity (GDP) generated by the event was $12.3 million throughout Alberta, with $8.5 million occurring in the City of Edmonton.
Considerable tax revenues were also produced by the event, totaling $4.2 million. The event produced federal government tax revenues of $2.1 million and an additional $1.1 million in taxes accrued to the provincial government. In addition, $983,000 in taxes was supported in Alberta municipalities, of which $864,000 accrued in the City of Edmonton.
The significant contribution of approximately 880 volunteers allowed the event to run smoothly and greatly contributed to the overall success of the event.
“Our Government is proud to have contributed to the success of the 2009 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings,” said the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of State (Sport). “The success of this event could not have happened without the combined efforts of the athletes, coaches, volunteers, the Province of Alberta, and the City of Edmonton. As the study shows, the benefits attributed to this event extend well beyond providing our curlers with world-class competition—it also generates a positive economic impact on the entire city of Edmonton and Alberta.”
"The Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings is one of the Canadian Curling Association's flagship events and obviously the entire country was anxiously awaiting the results to see who would be our representatives at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. With an economic impact of nearly $25 million generated by this Olympic qualification sporting event, our organization is very pleased to have produced such favourable results for the City of Edmonton, the Province of Alberta and all the other related stakeholders. Clearly it shows that investments in the CCA's Season of Champions properties are highly beneficial. We look forward to many future events being held in the City of Edmonton," commented Greg Stremlaw, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Curling Association.
“What an exciting time it was in Edmonton, to host Canada’s Olympic hopefuls and curling fans from across Canada,” said Ken Fiske, Vice President of Tourism and Economic Development. “Not only did thousands of visitors see the kind of event our city can host, they also spent millions of dollars in the region’s economy. We were pleased to support Northlands on bringing this event to Edmonton.”
The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance conducted the analysis on behalf of the Canadian Curling Association and Edmonton Tourism. To conduct the assessment, the CSTA used STEAM PRO (Sport Tourism Economic Assessment Model – Professional version), which measures the economic impact of a sport event on a community.
A total of 553 valid on-site surveys were conducted and collated at the competition venue, providing the survey results with a confidence interval of +/- 3%, 19 times out of 20. The survey was conducted using the Techneos Entryware Pro System, which features the Entryware™ Designer software program for preparing the questionnaires as well as Entryware™ for Palm OS running on handheld PDA’s for data collection.
A copy of the full report is available here.
About CSTA
The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance is a tourism industry led organization that promotes sport tourism as an economic development initiative at the community level. The CSTA services over 200 members across Canada, including 115 municipalities, 55 national sport, multi-sport and major games organizations and variety of other national and provincial sport and tourism industry partners. Sport tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry with approximately $2.4 billion in annual spending by domestic travelers.
About the CCA
The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) is the national sport governing body responsible for the development, promotion and organization of curling in Canada. In cooperation with its Provincial and Territorial Member Associations across Canada, the CCA provides programs and services to curlers ranging from the youngest “little rocker” (age 7 and up), to those 60 years and older and from aspiring Olympians to Canadians with special needs, coaches, curling facility operators and volunteer boards, ice makers and officials. The CCA and their Member Associations are also responsible for the organization and operation of the championship system that culminates in the Canadian Championships operated by the CCA for Juniors (20 and under), University, Seniors (50 and over), Mixed, Women, Men, and Wheelchair.
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Contact:
Rick Traer, CEO
Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance
Tel: (613) 688-5843
Greg Stremlaw, CEO
Canadian Curling Association
Tel: (613) 834-2076 x117
Lindsay Harrison
Manager, Event Attraction, Edmonton Tourism
Tel: (780) 917-7879