Events this year, in near future expected to bring almost $30 million to region.

When Spokane made a successful bid for the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships earlier this spring, it was the event-tourism equivalent of nailing a triple axel.
It took a lot of hard work to get it down, and when it came together, man, did it look good.

A report from the Spokane Regional Sports Commission states that sporting events held recently and currently slated to be held in the Inland Northwest in the near future are bringing to town more than 22,000 athletes, creating about 53,600 hotel-room night stays and have an overall economic impact of about $29.3 million. That doesn’t include the impact of regularly scheduled games played by local professional sports teams and the region’s school teams.

Of the upcoming events, the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships are expected to have the greatest economic impact, with the sports commission estimating it will bring $8 million to the region.

Of this year’s events, the Ironman Coeur d’Alene triathlon, held June 22, likely will have the greatest economic impact. The event is expected to draw 1,600 athletes and bring $4.5 million to the region.

The Evergreen Region Volleyball Association’s Pacific Northwest Qualifier isn’t far behind, however. The two-weekend tournament, held in March, saw 400 girls’ volleyball teams come to Spokane to compete in the Junior Olympics qualifying event. It had an economic impact of about $4.1 million.

Of course, there also are Bloomsday, the 12k road race which draws more than 40,000 participants every May, and Hoopfest, the 3-on-3 basketball tournament for which more than 6,300 teams registered this year. They have strong economic impacts, but because many of the participants in each event already live in the region, it’s harder to gauge impact, sports-tourism experts say.

Eric Sawyer, executive director of the Spokane sports commission, says that when the organization was forecasting activity for 2008, it projected sporting events would generate 40,000 hotel-room night stays this year.

Now, Sawyer says, “I think we’re going to be far over that.”

Ironman Coeur d’Alene is expected to account for the most room nights this year, at an estimated 10,200.

“Hotel stays have quadrupled” for Ironman Coeur d’Alene, which has been held each summer for the past six years, Sawyer says. “The athletes have made it into a family adventure.”

The Pacific Northwest Qualifier generated roughly 8,500 room nights.

Harry Sladich, president and CEO of the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, says that overall, Spokane County had 1.6 million hotel stays in 2007.
Leisure travelers account for the largest volume of hotel stays, followed by—in no particular order—business travelers, convention delegates and sporting-event participants and spectators.

Through April of this year, the occupancy rate for hotels in the county increased by 1.5 percent and room rates rose by 3 percent, compared with year-earlier figures. The increase has surprised some in the industry, since the region was infused with activity in January of 2007, when it hosted the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

“Spokane is healthy right now because it has so many eggs in so many different baskets,” Sladich says. “We are attracting people with so many different events and activities. Sports are a critical part of that.”

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