Whether being pelted by colorful powder or surrounded by rock music, more runners will soon be headed to Savannah thanks to an uptick in sports tourism.
Ben Wilder, who heads the Savannah Sports Council, a division of Visit Savannah, said Friday that next week’s Color Run on May 17 has seen a spike in participation this year.
“Last year there were 1,000 runners. This year that has increased to 4,000 runners who will be filling the historic district,” said Wilder.
Meanwhile, this November’s Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon has the potential to attract a couple hundred more runners due to the cancellation of an Atlanta long-distance race the month before, according to Joseph Marinelli, president of Visit Savannah.
That race has allowed participants to transfer their registrations to the Rock ’n’ Roll in Savannah, just a few weeks later, for those who had already begun training.
Sports tourism is nothing new for the area, but certain races and tournaments are raising the city’s profile among athletes who like to mix vigorous exercise with vacation.
Wilder said the May 10 beach volleyball tournament on Tybee Island has 140 teams participating.
Although reports on city revenue generated from the hotel-motel tax were not in for March, Marinelli said, he expects the numbers to come out well in the first quarter and even better in the second.
“Overall, even though weather was not ideal, we had a good month,” said Marinelli of the soggy St. Patrick’s holiday.
Part of the hotel-motel tax goes toward funding Visit Savannah, which is in charge of marketing the city and its host of attractions.
In Chatham County, Marinelli said, bed-tax revenues are up by 22 percent in the first quarter, though some of that money came from a class-action settlement with travel websites Travelocity and Expedia.
Also at the May board meeting of Visit Savannah, staffer Erica Baucus said several prominent publications had featured Savannah this week, including online sites The Daily Beast and Condé Nast Traveler. The Starland District also got a write-up in The New York Times travel section, featuring several cafes and shops.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen the average age of our visitor to Savannah get younger and younger. That’s not by accident,” Marinelli said.
“Before long, the Starland District will have its own identity just like SoHo does in New York,” he said. “And with that comes residential transformation along with new restaurants, retail and more.”