By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Visitors browse at the Sports Authority booth at the
Marathon Expo in the Outrigger Reef Hotel. Organizers
say they expect this year's event to have a bigger impact
than last year, but so far retail sales have been slow.

---

Japan woes
slow marathon sales

Japanese runners,
more than half the field,
are spending less this year

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Japanese runners, who make up more than half the 30,000-plus participants in Sunday's Honolulu Marathon, seem to be spending less in Hawaii than usual this year.

Athletic shoe stores say it's a little too soon to tell but marathon-related sales to Japanese visitors were already down sharply and don't show any signs of improving.

Still, marathon organizers and the hotels say, this big group of Japanese visitors fills a critical gap in a serious off-season for the tourist industry.

Even if the marathon's economic impact is the same level as last year's -- and organizers say they expect more -- it is still a major contributor to the local business scene.

The state Department of Business & Economic Development estimated last year's marathon resulted in $94.6 million in direct spending in the local economy. The biggest year was 1995, when the estimated direct spending was $105.6 million, DBEDT said.

Jim Barahal, president of the Honolulu Marathon Association, said usually there is one nonrunner visitor accompanying every two runners. So far, there are about 32,000 runners signed up, so the marathon-related visitor total is approaching 50,000.

Of the 32,000 runners registered, about 17,000 are from Japan, about 3,300 from the mainland, 10,400 from Hawaii and the rest from other foreign countries.

"It's more runners than last year and more from Japan," Barahal said.

"We're really talking direct numbers," he said, meaning actual money spent by actual visitors as opposed to the indirect benefit of nationally televised sports events from Hawaii, such as the Pro Bowl.

But the marathon has those indirect benefits too. "We are on prime time on national television in Japan. We're worldwide on ESPN," Barahal said.

Barahal said he has heard that the Japanese visitors aren't spending as much as before, but he said that won't really be known until after the race.

"It looks like the Japanese spending habits are not like they were in the past," said Gordon Asahara, owner of the Runners Route store in Ward Warehouse. November sales of athletic footwear to the Japanese were down 50 percent, he said. At the same time there was a lift of 60 percent in local business but that was not enough to make up for the lost Japanese business.

Asahara yesterday said the store was ready for more business as the marathoners started arriving but it wasn't seeing an increase.

Runners Route has a booth at the Marathon Expo in the Outrigger Reef, the marathon headquarters hotel. It's not allowed to sell shoes there because that exclusive privilege belongs to Nike Inc., one of the marathon's major sponsors. But Asahara's team pitches the Japanese and others to come to the store and provides buses to get them there.

"This year we're down about 15 percent from last year. It's very noticeable," he said.

The purchasing power of the yen has fallen about 15 percent since last December as recent economic troubles in Asia have weakened the Japanese currency against the dollar.

The Running Room on Kapahulu Avenue, another athletic shoe store well known to marathoners, said the Japanese are just starting to trickle in so it's too soon to know what the depressed yen will mean to overall spending.

"But we're getting a lot of Canadians and Europeans. The Europeans are spending quite a bit of money," said Ray Woo, an assistant manager.

Running Room has its annual shoe sale around marathon time and the marathon visitors from all over, as well as Hawaii residents, know that and know where to find the store, Woo said.

Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, popular with marathon visitors for its rates that tend toward moderate and low, said the fact that its Outrigger Reef Waikiki is the marathon headquarters helps. Business is strong, but not as strong as it might have been, said Sandi Yara, a spokeswoman.

"We will be busy, but we will not be sold out for the marathon," she said. "It's less than we had originally expected," she said.

Hotels had hoped for more because of increased publicity given that this is the marathon's 25th anniversary.

"(But) even if the numbers are less, the marathon is a major contributor to business and we're appreciative," she said. "For us, it's about the same as last year."