by David Ball
Staff Writer
While the annual Florida/Georgia game may be the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” it seems this Saturday’s “River City Showdown” between Florida State University and the University of Alabama is poised to give the Gators and Bulldogs a run for their money, at least in terms of economic impact.
“I think that this is probably going to be even busier than Florida/Georgia,” said Phil Tufano, president of the Jacksonville Hotel/Motel Association. Tufano said news at Tuesday’s association meeting was all good.
“I hear rooms are sold out all the way to Ormond Beach.”
That claim was supported by Lyndsay Rossman, director of corporate communications for the Jacksonville and the Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau, who sent out a blast e-mail two weeks ago to more than 100 hotel partners to check if any rooms were available this weekend.
The response: Nada.
“They are saying they are sold out, and that’s hotels not just in Duval County but across the area,” said Rossman. “About 86,000 (game) tickets were sold. I believe that’s more than the Super Bowl, and I’ve heard thousands more are coming to tailgate.”
“This is really filling up our hotel rooms,” she added, “and we are pretty confident it’s going to be a huge success for this community.”
Matching the impact of the Florida/Georgia game will be a significant feat. Rossman reported that last year’s game generated 30,100 room nights and $31.4 million in total economic impact ($13.3 million in direct impact).
But she said FSU/Alabama will have a chance to beat that with an expected 70 percent of fans and participants coming from outside Jacksonville.
Last year, the Duval County Tourist Development Council awarded $200,000 in local bed-tax money to help promote the game, as opposed to the $75,000 grant awarded this year for the Florida/Georgia game. However, the promotion looks to have paid off.
Dan King, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Riverfront, said like the Florida/Georgia game, his 966 rooms were nearly filled months ago and have been completely booked for weeks. But, the difference for the FSU/Alabama weekend is the quality of the guests, said King.
“It’s more alumni than students,” he said. “We also have some special guests with us from the Gator Bowl Association, as well as university boosters and people from the president’s office from Florida State.”
Tufano said these types of guests normally have more discretionary income, and so a more significant economic impact.
“They will go out to eat more, stay longer and take part in more activities in the city,” he said.
King said although a few guests have already arrived, more than 90 percent will stay from Friday to Sunday.
Like many hotels, the Hyatt will be ramping up activities surrounding the fanfare. The hotel will extend breakfast in the lobby restaurant to run right into lunch and provide new retail shopping options. And when guests return from the game, scheduled for a 5 p.m. kickoff, they can indulge in even more food and beverages around a host of TVs recapping the game.
“We’re going to treat it like the festivities during Florida/Georgia and allow them to experience a full college football weekend outside of just the game,” said King.
The CVB has also distributed information packets to area hotels with parking maps, a calender of events and a list of 12 activities for visitors to tackle when not immersed in the game fanfare. Why 12?
“12 is a significant number for these teams,” said Rossman. “Alabama has had 12 national championships and Florida State has had 12 ACC championships.”For more visitor information, call 800-733-2668 (local 798-9111) or visit www.visitjacksonville.com.