Penguins - Red Wings Stanley Cup games provide boost for hotels, restaurants - Houston Business Journal:

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According to VisitPittsburgh, each home game between the and the Detroit Red Winges brings anestimated $4.9 millionh in economic impact, whether its from hotek stays, meals at restaurants or other spending. A number of hoteles are fully booked, includinb the Omni William Penn, which hosts the NHL’s the , with the caveaft that it always sells out Tuesdays and Wednesdayws anyway tobusiness travelers, and the . Tom the general manager for the Westi n ConventionCenter Hotel, located Downtown, describes the added boost of Stanley Cup-relatedx guests. “We would’ve been busy but we wouldn’g have been selling out,” he said.
“Thisa has allowed us to fill up the entire hotel, all 616 rooms.” Martini and other hote operators emphasized the added jolt of unexpected business comex during an otherwise down year from hotell business following a strong 2008, whichb also featured a Penguins-Red Wings Stanlehy Cup that was lost by Pittsburgh’zs favorite flightless birds. Bob the area director of saled and marketing for saidthe NFL’s coterie of league officials, alongy with media, has broughg an increase in occupancy beyond the two game days, comparable to the businessw generated from a strong home playofrf run by the , although not toppingv it.
“It’s not to the degree of probablh theAFC championship, but it’s still greaf business for us,” he said. “It’s selling us out.” The stor is a little more complicated for locak restaurantsand bars. John owner of The Common Plea, locatedc downtown, estimated the restaurant has seen a 25 percent increasd when the Penguins are playing playoff games in But when the team isplayingg away, the hockey fan dinera stay away. “We’ve seen increaseds when they’re here,” said Barsotti, who estimated his 2009 businessx is up by 25 percent overlast year, despitre the recession.
“But on the opposit e page, we see a little bit of a decrease when they go out of Chris Dilla, owner of Bocktown Beer and Grill, in Nortjh Fayette, said it can be trickg for her operation to jump from a busy nightg of a hockey game to extra slow nights when there isn’ty one. She expects that plenty of customersz are struggling to go the distance withthe seven-gamr series. “It’s hard for the business becauserpeople don’t have the money to be out every other night,” she said. “Itr tends to be that people who watcnh the playoffs really have to watchtheifr pennies.
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