Local 2011 Bowl Games Generate Economic Impact for Region
The 34th annual Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, which was played December 28th and featured the Texas Longhorns and California Golden Bears, generated $18.6 million in economic impact. Direct visitor spending totaled $9.6 million, while $9.0 million was derived from indirect spending. The study revealed that 25,510 fans traveled from outside the County of San Diego to attend the game, and an estimated 23,668 hotel room nights were sold. Total attendance at Qualcomm Stadium was 56,313.
The 7th annual San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, which was played December 21st and featured the TCU Horned Frogs and Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, generated an economic impact of $7.5 million. Direct visitor spending totaled $3.9 million, while $3.6 million was derived from indirect spending. According to the study, 9,252 fans traveled from outside the County of San Diego to attend the game, and an estimated 12,725 hotel room nights were sold. Total attendance was 24,607.
“Each year San Diego’s two bowl games are a boon for the local tourism industry,” said John Wertz, 2012 president of the San Diego Bowl Game Association. “We are proud that our year around efforts provide tremendous results for our community during the region’s two slowest tourism weeks of the year.”
The mission of the non-profit San Diego Bowl Game Association is to generate tourism, exposure, economic benefit and civic pride for San Diego and its citizens by presenting the nation’s most exciting and entertaining bowl games and festivals of events.
Since its inception in 1978, the San Diego Bowl Game Association has created an impact of $639.1 million.
For more information on the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, visit www.BridgepointEducationHolidayBowl.com. For the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, visit www.PoinsettiaBowl.com.
