Economic impact and social utility of equestrian events, examples from France

In France, equestrian sports and leisure have been growing since the 1990s. Consequently the number of equestrian events has multiplied. For example, 120,000 equestrian competitions were organized in 2012 and their number has increased by 111% in 10 years. As a result we wonder in what ways these events could participate in territorial development. To answer this question, we built a research program aiming at analyzing economic, social and environmental impacts of equestrian events. Our first results are presented here. Using the economic base theory, we studied the economic impact of two international equestrian events which took place in "Le Pin" national stud in "'Basse-Normandie" region. The first one, "the Equirando", is one of the largest European gatherings of horsetrekking riders. The second one, the "Grand Complet", is an international competition of eventing. The total economic impact of these events for the county has been evaluated at 190,000€ for the Equirando and at 240,000€ for the Grand Complet. We also started studying social impacts during 7 other competitions and shows which took place in two other national studs in "Lorraine" and "Bourgogne" regions. Our final aim is to study social utility thanks to a cost-benefit analysis using the economic welfare theory. The work done in 2012 was just a first step to this end. It enables us to evaluate what kind of attributes spectators and local inhabitants could associate with equestrian events. Our findings highlight the social, patrimonial and territorial values of equestrian events for local dynamism and people welfare. Our aim is now to keep on the elaboration of the methodology to take into account not only the short term economic impacts of equestrian events but also their social and environmental externalities and long term inscription in territorial development.