Santa Rosa County and the surrounding northwest Florida area saw a generous economic impact from this spring’s Tough Mudder event. Nearly 6,000 participants turned out for the hardcore obstacle endurance course held at the Ates Ranch in East Milton on April 9 and 10 with another thousand-plus joining them as spectators.
As part of their contract with Santa Rosa County, Tough Mudder commissioned the Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development to assess the value of the gulf coast event.
The analysis showed that overnight visitors spent nearly $168 per day (not including lodging) and daytrippers spent nearly $69 per day, with the majority of dollars allocated primarily on food, beverage, clothing or retail (including fuel). Hoteliers saw 2,023 room nights filled as a direct result of the Tough Mudder, generating $255,681 in regional lodging spending.
“Santa Rosa’s investment of around $100,000 to bring Tough Mudder back in 2016 resulted in approximately $1.5 million of economic benefit to the county’s residents and businesses,” said Zachary Jenkins, director of the Haas Center. The assessment showed a total regional impact of $2,753,229.
“The Haas Center report confirms what most of us already knew, the Tough Mudder was unquestionably a big win for our county and our region with an undeniable positive return on our investment. The numbers are in, the results are clear. If you want to see our Santa Rosa County tourism economy continue to grow, you want to support events that deliver results like this one,” said District Four Commissioner Rob Williamson. “This two-year partnership with the nationally recognized Tough Mudder brand has brought thousands of first-time visitors to our county as well as provided our tourism economy and tourism-related small businesses with hundreds of thousands of shares, posts, video views and social media connections. I’m not aware of any TDC-supported event in the last decade that can boast the kind of success we have received from Tough Mudder.”
Approximately 35 percent of the respondents had never traveled to Santa Rosa County before the Tough Mudder. Most were from the gulf coast area or other Florida counties, however visitors reported traveling from California, Washington, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The majority said they would return to the area within the next year for a non-Tough Mudder event.
“The return on investment proved itself, we increased tax revenues in Santa Rosa County and made a substantial economic impact,” said Tourism Director Julie Morgan. “We like to see successful events come to our county and be a part of our tourism story.”
For a complete copy of the Haas Center report on the 2016 Tough Mudder, visit www.santarosa.fl.gov.
