The Honolulu Marathon, which generates more visitor spending in Hawaii than any other annual event, pumped $107.7 million into the state economy in 2011.

It was the seventh straight year that marathon spending topped $100 million, according to a study from Hawaii Pacific University released Thursday.

The 39th annual mara­thon, which was held Dec. 11 and attracted 22,615 runners, also produced $5.01 million in taxes, the study said.

"People who come spend a significant amount of money that the state doesn’t have to build anything for, such as a stadium or the convention center," said professor and study group leader Jerry Agrusa of the HPU Travel Industry Management Department. "There’s no upkeep. They’re using an existing facility — the road. That’s why it’s such a tremendous event. It brings all these tourists here, and the state doesn’t have to build anything."

Mike Story, tourism brand and sports manager for the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said the marathon is important to the state because the largest participating group comes out of the state’s largest international market, Japan.

"It plays a key role in bringing visitors to a destination for a sporting event," Story said. "The marathon has never solicited funds from HTA since I came here in 2005, but we support them in other ways."

The NFL Pro Bowl, which by contrast receives $4 million from the state and $152,500 in game-day stadium costs, accounted for $28.15 million in visitor spending and generated $3.07 million in taxes in 2011, according to HTA. Numbers for last Sunday’s Pro Bowl are due today, Story said.

While visitor spending for the Pro Bowl might not match the marathon, it brings value in other ways that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Story said.

"The Pro Bowl has tremendous value for Hawaii not only for the economic impact it brings to the state, but also its tremendous support of the community and also the media value," Story said.

He said the value of last year’s game broadcast was more than $235 million, and post-game coverage was valued at $18 million. It reached more than 13 million households with a 7.7 Nielsen rating, meaning that 7.7 percent of U.S. households were tuned in. Sunday’s Pro Bowl reached 12.5 million households and had a 7.3 rating, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers.

The marathon, meanwhile, relies heavily on Japan for its participants. More than half, or 12,359 of the 22,615 Hono­lulu Marathon registrants, were from that country. The study found that the length of stay for the Japanese runners rose 13.3 percent, and they spent $344.67 a day, a slight increase over 2010. Registrants from Japan accounted for more than 85.7 percent of all registered runners from outside Hawaii. The study did not include spending by local participants.

In addition, the study found that the Japanese runners brought an average 1.1 people with them, meaning that the race attracted approximately 25,000 people from Japan.

Unlike the HPU study, which includes spending by visiting friends and family members, HTA includes spending only by participants or attendees at the event and not by family members or friends who do not attend.

Dr. Jim Barahal, president of the Hono­lulu Marathon, said registration for this year’s marathon on Dec. 9 already is 80 percent ahead of last year, with 10,468 entries from Hawaii, the mainland and Canada. He said entries haven’t opened in Japan or worldwide yet, but he expects this year’s field to be significantly higher than last year.

"If you look at the Sony Open golf tournament, the Pro Bowl and other events where people get exposed to Hawaii either by participating or seeing it on television, I think the marathon is the best of the events because we bring in more people and generate more actual money," he said.

Agrusa said a key attraction for the Japanese besides the marathon itself was that the yen was at a 25-year high versus the U.S. dollar. The study also found that the lasting effects from Japan’s March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear fallout prompted the Japanese to stay longer, he said.

"A number of them said they came here to enjoy life in Hawaii and they’re going to stay longer because of the earthquake and because life is so short," Agrusa said. "They said that all of these people who died because of the earthquake didn’t do anything wrong, and they’re going to enjoy Hawaii because it’s part of their bucket list."

The report was based on 1,887 interviews of marathon participants between Dec. 8 and 10 at the Hono­lulu Marathon Expo. Of those interviews, 1,323 were done in Japanese.