Ryder Cup

This is the biggest international event in professional golf. In addition to the hotels already filled with reservations, many of the high end restaurants have completely filled up on reservations for that week already. The city has embraced the event with events every night.
Derby is obviously huge, but it is a weekend. Ryder Cup will last from the 15th through 21st.
IMO - the economic impact to the restaurant community will be as great as Derby or better.

This event will be underestimated by a lot of people who aren't into golf. I'm not a golfer but I am a huge sports fans and this is THE largest golfing event in the world. To have it held here in the VIlle should be considered a coup. This city will defintely benefit from this event and on more levels than just the restaurant and hotel biz. This places us up on a level in the world few cities attain. Nothing will take away from the Derby, but this is something all Louisvillians should embrace and hope this event comes back. The impact will be great and long lasting.

The Convention Bureau informed my B&B owners group that 35K out of town visitors are now expected rather than the 115K previously touted.

[Robin Garr]

The Convention Bureau informed my B&B owners group that 35K out of town visitors are now expected rather than the 115K previously touted.

I do expect that we're seeing a little bit of overly hyped enthusiasm here.

I also believe that the Cup and the crowds it brings will be good for Louisville and good for the independent hospitality community. I hope that as the city's primary portal for food and restaurant information, we can come up with some creative ways to help publicize the joys of our indies for these visitors, many of whom are already hitting the main LouisvilleHotBytes Website in search of information.

We have got an ad in a lovely magazine called Food and Dining magazine which will be distributed in most (if not all)
hotel rooms in the city! Why, we even had someone come from Texas the other day (for their sons wedding) , and they were guests at a Ramada Inn. We were told they came for breakfast because they saw our ad in said Magazine!

I am hoping that the guests that are here for the Ryder Cup will be as adventurous!

Exactly how enormous is enormous?

The Ryder Cup could draw more than 210,000 spectators to Valhalla during its five days of practice rounds and competition, according to organizers. The 2000 PGA Championship, won in dramatic fashion by Tiger Woods, was a sellout with 33,000 weeklong passes sold.

The PGA, which is based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and owns Valhalla Golf Club, estimates that the Ryder Cup event will have a $115 million economic impact on Greater Louisville.

By comparison, the 2000 PGA Champion­ship had an estimated economic impact of $40 million. The Kentucky Derby weekend has a $217.8 million impact on the region, according to a 2001 study.

NBC and its affiliated stations are planning more than 25 hours of live coverage, which will reach 545 million viewers in 177 countries.

Media credentials will be issued to more than 1,500 reporters and commentators from around the world.

http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louis ... tory2.html

The Ryder Cup will be the biggest event Louisville has ever seen.....Stephen not to entirely discredit what you posted, but the city has planned for this since the day it was announced...all of the major hotels will have literature in every room about local fare, and tipping customs........most of Sysco's customers have received training on how to deal with foreigners and other ettiquette. The Ryder Cup will be huge for us.....there's no other way to put it, and being that there are only two major ways for the people to get to the course (via bus from downtown, and from Fair and Expo Center), this will have a great impact on our city, especially in a traditionally down time. Don't under estimate this event...it is huge.

The Ryder Cup will be the biggest event Louisville has ever seen.....Stephen not to entirely discredit what you posted, but the city has planned for this since the day it was announced...all of the major hotels will have literature in every room about local fare, and tipping customs........most of Sysco's customers have received training on how to deal with foreigners and other ettiquette. The Ryder Cup will be huge for us.....there's no other way to put it, and being that there are only two major ways for the people to get to the course (via bus from downtown, and from Fair and Expo Center), this will have a great impact on our city, especially in a traditionally down time. Don't under estimate this event...it is huge.

Yes, I was at Sysco's event, which prompted me to post my other thread regarding the subject...

I will still hold my feelings that the city has the infrastructure and capacity to handle this event, as it will be no bigger than the crush of humanity that Derby is. I hope that it is the 'biggest' event we have ever seen for publicity and for overall economic impact. My point of view is that of the indie restaurant, as in, 'should we hire more staff'' or 'should we rent glassware?'

With all due respect...