The 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics marked a historic milestone as the first Winter Youth Olympic Games held in Asia and the largest in its history, drawing global attention(Jeon Youngji, 2024.02.01). By utilizing the venues from the 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics, this event achieved cost efficiency and sustainability, embodying and furthering the Olympic spirit. Additionally, the Youth Olympics emphasizes cultural exchange and mutual growth, aiming for all participants to be protagonists in their journey of development as athletes and global citizens.
This study analyzes the economic impact of the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics, focusing on participant-centered empirical data to provide an objective foundation for sustaining its intangible values. It seeks to uncover hidden values and propose strategies to expand the base of winter youth sports in Asia. The findings reveal that the direct economic impact from domestic and international visitors' expenditures amounted to 10.8 billion KRW, resulting in a production-inducing effect of 11.3 billion KRW, a value-added effect of 4.7 billion KRW, and an income-inducing effect of 472 million KRW. The production-inducing coefficient was 1.0508, which is 0.8826 lower than the industry average (1.9334). However, the value-added coefficient was 0.4327, higher than the industry average (0.2330). The income-inducing coefficient was 0.0468, significantly lower than the industry average of 0.7670. These results highlight the economic significance of the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics and emphasize the need for strategic initiatives to enhance both the tangible and intangible impacts of such events. This study contributes to the discourse on leveraging youth sports events for regional economic development and fostering the growth of winter youth sports in Asia.