This report estimates the economic impacts on the Blue Mountains economy from spending by trail runners who attended Ultra-Trail Australia (UTA) by UTMB in May 2024.
UTA is the world’s second-largest Ultra-Trail running event and includes a variety of races centred on Katoomba, in Australia’s Blue Mountains. Events in UTA 2024 included 11km, 22km, 50km, and 100km options, with a 100-mile race also being added to the upcoming 2025 edition of UTA.
The full report can be downloaded here.
At its heart, this report helps answer the following questions:
- How many people visited the Blue Mountains because of UTA 2024?
- How much was spent in Blue Mountains businesses by visitors for UTA 2024?
Key findings
There were 6,870 people who participated in UTA 2024 across UTA11, UTA22, UTA50, and UTA100, with an estimated 95% (6,545 athletes) visiting from outside of the Blue Mountains.
On average each visiting athlete brought with them about 2.4 supporters on their visit to the Blue Mountains. In total, there were approximately 15,909 supporters who accompanied visiting athletes participating in UTA 2024.
Visitors for UTA 2024 stayed an average of 3.0 nights and spent $729 across their trip.
It is estimated that total direct spending in the Blue Mountains by all visiting UTA 2024 participants and their supporters was $16.4 million, which is equivalent to approximately 3.8% of all tourism spending in the Blue Mountains over the 12 months to June 2024 ($431.6 million).
- On top of the direct spending of $16.4 million associated with UTA visitors, there was an estimated further $9.1 million of flow-on spending in the local economy, taking the total economic impact of UTA 2024 from a gross spending perspective to $25.5 million.
- It is estimated that the total economic impact of UTA from a gross spending perspective has grown by 66% in real terms between the 2018 and 2024 editions of UTA.
- The total potential employment effect of UTA 2024 is 93 jobs. The $16.4 million of direct spending can potentially support 67 long-term local jobs, with the $9.1 million of flow-on spending estimated to be sufficient to support a further 26 jobs.
About the economist and ultra runner behind the report
This report’s author, Benje Patterson, is an economist from Arrowtown, New Zealand, which is a small mountain-backed village that is widely regarded to be New Zealand’s trail running mecca. Benje has over a decade of experience analysing economic activity in local economies, including many projects related to tourism, sport and recreation. His previous work has included assessments of the economic impacts of trail running events (e.g. the WILD), as well as the economic benefits of skiing and biking on communities. Outside of his professional work in the economics of sport and recreation, Benje is a leading New Zealand ultra runner – he has previously achieved a top 5 result in the UTA100 (2023) and recently won one of New Zealand’s most iconic trail runs, the Motatapu Marathon (2025).
The full report can be downloaded here. Please get in touch if you are interested about understanding the economic impacts of an event in your area, or the potential economic opportunities from tapping into trail development for biking, running, and walking.