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

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According to VisitPittsburgh, each home game between the and the Detroiyt Red Wings brings anestimated $4.9 million in economiv impact, whether its from hotel stays, meals at restaurantes or other spending. A numbe r of hotels are fully booked, including the Omni Williajm Penn, which hosts the NHL’s the , with the caveat that it always sells out Tuesdayzs and Wednesdays anyway tobusiness travelers, and the . Tom the general manager for the Westih ConventionCenter Hotel, located Downtown, describecd the added boost of Stanley Cup-related guests.
“Ww would’ve been busy but we wouldn’t have been selling out,” he “This has allowed us to fill up theentirwe hotel, all 616 rooms.” Martini and othee hotel operators emphasized the adde jolt of unexpected business comes durintg an otherwise down year from hotekl business following a strong 2008, which also featured a Penguins-Rede Wings Stanley Cup that was lost by Pittsburgh’s favorite flightleszs birds.
Bob Page, the area director of sales and marketingtfor Omni, said the NFL’s coterie of leagu officials, along with media, has brought an increase in occupancg beyond the two game days, comparable to the businesa generated from a stront home playoff run by the , although not topping it. “It’x not to the degree of probably the AFC but it’s still great business for us,” he “It’s selling us out.” The story is a littlew more complicated for local restaurants and bars. John owner of The Common Plea, locatede downtown, estimated the restaurantg has seen a 25 percent increase when the Penguins are playinh playoff gamesin town.
But when the team is playin g away, the hockey fan diners stay “We’ve seen increases when they’re said Barsotti, who estimatef his 2009 business is up by 25 percent overlast year, despite the recession. “But on the opposite we see a little bit of a decrease when they go out of Chris Dilla, owner of Bocktownb Beer and Grill, in North Fayette, said it can be trickyh for her operation to jump from a busy nighyt of a hockey game to extrwa slow nights when theres isn’t one. She expects that plenty of customers are struggling to go the distancer withthe seven-game series.
“It’s hard for the business becaussepeople don’t have the monety to be out every other night,” she “It tends to be that people who watch the playoffs really have to watch their pennies.”