Review of the past `88 Seoul Olympics

.A review of existing tourism literature indicates that little research has been conducted to estimate the economic impacts of mega-events by using a sophisticated input-output model. And no attempt was made to estimate the economic impacts of tourist expenditures associated with the ’88 Seoul Olympics; thus, no comparison could be made with other mega-events, such as the World Cup. The purpose of this study in to estimate the short-term economic impacts of foreign tourist expenditures attributable to the Seoul Olympics, using an input-output model. The results show that Olympic tourism receipts of ＄259 million generated approximately ＄621 million of output, ＄125 million of income. 13,739 full-time equivalent jobs, ＄328 million of value added, and ＄34 million of government revenues. The secondary impact was found to be significant, representing 87.7% of the total output impact. Considering the substitution effect of Olympic tourism receipts for major export products, these receipts generated the same economic value as would 19.9 million semiconductors, 1.85 million TV sets exported by the electronics industry, or 31,205 passenger cars exported by the automobile industry. This substitution effect of tourism was found to be greater when the rate of foreign exchange earnings was taken into consideration.