Western Regionals worth roughly
Non classé - 28 oct 2013SAN BERNARDINO The city’s annual hosting of the the Little League Western Regional Tournament is worth big bucks for local hotels and restaurants, people in the hospitality industry say.
The San Bernardino Convention Visitors Bureau commissioned that report in 2001.Cheap Jerseys free shipping With the passage of nine years, tourism folks and the tourney’s chief reason the Western Regional’s dollar value has increased.
“I say $20 million because I’m sure it’s worth more than that now,” said Jim Gerstenslager, director of Little League Western Regional Headquarters.
Wayne Austin, current president of the San Bernardino Convention Visitors Bureau thinks the economic impact could be even greater than that.
Austin went as high as $24 to $26 million, although he acknowledged that range is a guess.
Whatever the actual amount, Austin is happy for the exposure that the games bring to San Bernardino.
In all, cable viewers this year will have had an opportunity to watch six San Bernardino games by the tournament’s end. ESPN2 broadcast only the last two games during the 2009 competition.
“I know it’s going to be big,” Austin said, “just to have the name San Bernardino’ out there on that brand new scoreboard.”
But immediate cash infusions come from the families of Little Leaguers who have been in San Bernardino for the past several days.
The Western Regionals brings two California teams and squads from 11 other western states. Each tournament brings in ballplayers from as far away as Hawaii, Alaska and Montana. The players stay in bunks near Al Houghton Stadium, but their parents, coaches and siblings who come along for the ride need hotel rooms.
When it comes to the Western Regionals, the luckiest hoteliers seem to be those at Hilton San Bernardino. The hotel’s lobby has been converted into baseball central for this year’s tournament. The walls have been adorned with baseball jerseys and easels display poster boards of brackets from previous Western Regionals.
“Absolutely, Little Leaguers have impacted out economic outlook for the last 12 days,” said Donna Esparza, the hotel’s sales and marketing director.
“Not only are they staying at our hotel, they’re eating in the hotel,” she continued. “We’re referring them to Black Angus and Pat Oscars and El Torito and IHOP. They’ve all seen business from our Little League families.”
The Western Regionals began Aug. 6. Out of area families have since spent hundreds of dollars each on such expenses as lodging, food and gasoline to watch their sons and brothers play ball.
“To us, it came out to about $800,” said Juan Lopez, father of a player on the Northern California team.
Lopez, a worker in a sign display and craftsmen’s union based in San Francisco, drove to San Bernardino with his wife and two sons.
The $800 price tag was far below what Hawaii families had to spend. Bert Ramos, a union house painter and father of a Waipio Little League player, said Hawaii families spent about $1,000 on hotel rooms alone.
Added to that, are the $600 or so spent on rental cars and $1,800 in airfare to fly a family of four to Los Angeles International Airport
The Ramos family brought five people to San Bernardino and Bert’s wife, Deann, said Hawaii families are coping with the high costs of competition by taking turns cooking meals.
The Hawaii team was scheduled to play Arizona’s squad Friday night and the outcome of that game was unknown as of this writing. That meant that the Ramos family was optimistic that they would have an an opportunity to spend even more money at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
