Promoting Domestic Tourism using the One Province One Marathon (OPOM) Project

The Covid-19 pandemic had massive impact on the tourism sector of countries such as Thailand, which heavily rely on foreign tourism. This study aimed to study the role of marathon running events in provincial economy and analysed role of marathon events on provincial tourism of Thailand. Using SportStat Asia data of 41 running events during 2022-2023 from 21 provinces to verify affect of running events by dependent-samples t-test and multiple regression analysis, it was found that occupancy rate, number of stays, number of travelers and tourism income in the area of an event significantly increased in the month of competition. Additionally, the result confirmed that the number of runners also induced the expansion of those 4 indicators. This fruitful study suggests that academic knowledge and the proposal that each province in Thailand should launch marathon events with a theme and period associated with its identity and tourism season. The paper also provides a Thailand Provincial Marathon Calendar which will be updated every year in order to publicize for tourists who are interested in participating in marathon running and which will pave the way to the sustainable economic development.