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

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According to VisitPittsburgh, each home game between the and the Detroit Red Wings brings anestimated $4.9 millioh in economic impact, whether its from hotelo stays, meals at restaurants or other spending. A numbed of hotels are fully booked, including the Omni Williamm Penn, which hosts the NHL’ management, the , with the caveat that it always sellxs out Tuesdays and Wednesdays anyway tobusinesx travelers, and the . Tom Martini, the general manageer for the Westin ConventionCenter Hotel, locate Downtown, described the added boost of Stanley Cup-related “We would’ve been busy but we wouldn’t have been sellintg out,” he said.
“This has allowedc us to fill up the entire all616 rooms.” Martinu and other hotel operators emphasized the addedf jolt of unexpected business comes duringv an otherwise down year from hotekl business following a strong 2008, which also featuredx a Penguins-Red Wings Stanley Cup that was lost by Pittsburgh’sx favorite flightless birds. Bob Page, the area directofr of sales and marketingfor Omni, said the NFL’ss coterie of league officials, along with media, has broughty an increase in occupancy beyond the two game days, comparable to the businesd generated from a strong home playoff run by the , although not toppinb it.
“It’s not to the degree of probably the AFC but it’s still greaft business for us,” he said. “It’s selling us The story is a little more complicated for local restaurants and bars. John Barsotti, owner of The Common Plea, located downtown, estimated the restaurant has seen a 25 percent increase when the Penguins are playing playoff games in But when the team isplaying away, the hockeuy fan diners stay away. “We’ve seen increasee when they’re here,” said Barsotti, who estimated his 2009 businessw is up by 25 percent over last despitethe recession.
“But on the opposit page, we see a little bit of a decreasew when they go outof town.” Chris owner of Bocktown Beer and in North Fayette, said it can be trickg for her operation to jump from a busy nighr of a hockey game to extrza slow nights when there isn’rt one. She expects that plenty of customers are strugglin to go the distanc withthe seven-game series. “It’s hard for the businessd becausepeople don’t have the money to be out everg other night,” she said. “It tendz to be that people who watcy the playoffs really have to watchtheir pennies.
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