Heinola DiscGolfPark World visitors brought over one million euros to the town of Heinola in 2024
Sports facilities are not just expenses, they have significant benefits for municipalities. Sports facilities are increasingly recognized for promoting well-being, but they also have substantial economic impacts.
Heinola DiscGolfPark World, more familiarly known as Kippis, is a DiscGolfPark located in Finland that has been named one of the world’s top 5 courses and has grown into a globally renowned disc golf center through volunteer efforts. Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences students Ville Lind and Sulo Saarela examined the Kippis‘ customer profiles in their thesis. Their survey received 962 responses, of which 705 were from visitors.
Lind and Saarela’s study explored visitors’ spending habits. The 705 visitors were asked to estimate how much money they spent on various services during their visit. A visitor was classified as someone traveling to Heinola from over 32 kilometers away. On average, visitors spent 36.70 € on restaurant services, 41.30 € on groceries, and 34.10 € on accommodations.
According to UDisc, the global disc golf scoring platform, 72% of Kippis’ visitors came from over 32 km away and represented 18 different countries. UDisc recorded over 10,000 visits at Kippis, and visitor counters showed 35,000 rounds played there in 2024. However, not all players use UDisc to record their rounds.
By correlating UDisc’s percentage of tourists with visitor counter data, an estimate of the total number of tourist visits can be calculated. Conservatively, assuming tourists played 30% of the 35,000 rounds at Kippis, the spending impact is as follows: 385,350 € on restaurant services, 433,125 € on groceries, and 357,788 € on accommodations. This means that, using a very cautious estimate, Kippis brought at least 1,176,263 € to the Heinola area in 2024.
“Sports facilities and events not only enhance well-being, but also contribute significantly to Heinola’s vitality and reputation. It’s fantastic that this thesis was able to quantify the economic impact of tourism for Heinola so accurately. Additionally, the development of these sports facilities has been heavily reliant on volunteer work, making them incredibly cost-effective for the city,” commented Heinola’s Sports Services Manager Maria Kaikkonen.
