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Syracuse winner of tourist dollars, no matter who wins NCAA games

Ellen Abbott
/
WRVO News

This is a big weekend for central New York’s hospitality industry – 30,000  people are rolling into town this weekend for the NCAA men's East Regional basketball games at the Carrier Dome held Friday and Sunday. And they’ll bring plenty of dollars to spend. 

Tracey Burkey of the Syracuse Visitors Bureau says this is one of the biggest events the city hosts over a short period of time. They’ve been planning for months. But they decided against what many other communities do when hosting games, that is creating a fan festival that brings visitors to one place.

"We really felt that there is so much to do in the area, we’d rather use the existing product and have people enjoy what we have here,” said Burkey.

To facilitate that, there will be free shuttles from Destiny USA and Armory Square up to the Carrier Dome, and during down time between the games, there will be festivities ranging from basketball movies at local venues to drink and dinner specials around town. 

Orchestrating all of this, volunteers clad in bright Orange jackets helping people get around. 

The crowd is expected to spend $7.2 million over the course of the tournament. 

Businesses of all kinds want to get a piece of that action, like a quartet of boutiques in Armory Square. Bounce, Jet Black, Frankie and Faye, and Etcetera are extending hours all weekend, offering special discounts in each of the stores, according to manager Mary Flaherty.

"We expect a lot of people to be down here. We think if they walk by, they might come in, they're killing time down here you know waiting for a dinner reservation, they’ll see our unique stores and want to stop and see what we have, for sure,” said Flaherty.

Burkey says it’s important that Syracuse makes a good impression this weekend because the NCAA looks at past history when deciding who gets to host these coveted games in the future.
 

“The more we can do to impress and to give everybody a good time, the more likely we’ll have them back again,” said Burkey.

Burkey says more than 80 percent of the hotels in Onondaga County are full, and there is also effect throughout the region.

“I’m sure there’s people even staying out at Turning Stone, or Auburn or Skaneateles.  But I think the majority are in Onondaga County.”

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.