Amusement pier at the Wildwoods, NJ, an ideal destination for everything from SMERF meetings to sports tournaments.
and-breakfasts, plus 22,000 restaurant seats offering numerous dining opportu- nities. “We are home to the Roland E. Powell Convention Center, which acts as our meetings centerpiece, and numerous hotels offering individual meeting facili- ties, as well as Northside Sports Complex to accommodate athletic programs."
Sports Tournaments
When it comes to the sports market, “Ocean City is the 'White Marlin Capital.' Deep-sea fishing was among the very first offerings here that attracted people to our destination, and it still is a major draw today," noted Wise.
"We have also very actively marketed our golf business,” he continued. “Outside of Myrtle Beach, nobody markets their desti- nation for golf more than Ocean City, Maryland. Most of our courses are just 20 minutes from the beach, and many are remain open year round or nearly that."
Surfing is another popular sport in Ocean City, though the destination isn't a “classic” surfing area. “Other popular activities here include beach volleyball tournaments, soccer, lacrosse, and indoor volleyball at
38 July August 2011
the convention center,” said Wise. “Sports groups are very valuable, because hotels don't need to build additional facilities in order to attract them."
Wise said that Ocean City is very popular among another market segment that he calls “the competitive arts,” as well. “This includes cheerleading, dance competi- tions and other such groups, which can draw tremendously. For example, we host two cheerleading events that draw in excess of 12,000 people to Ocean City. It is a huge market that sells out the town."
The Brandywine Valley recently hosted one of the nation's largest soccer tourna- ments. During Memorial Day weekend, the FC Delco Player Cup, organized by United Sports in Downingtown, con- verged on the area. Roughly 14,000 ath- letes, coaches, referees, families and friends filled not only soccer fields, but hotels, restaurants, shops and businesses.
Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau (CVB) facilitated the overnight accommodations for all visitors invited to this boys and girls competition. This is the tenth year Chester County CVB has assumed responsibility for arranging
overnight accommodations for the 700 teams and other attendees, primarily under the direction of Pam Baffoni, visi- tors bureau hotel liaison.
“The visitors bureau utilizes a custom online housing bureau system found at our website,
www.brandywinevalley.com, and I’m in charge of monitoring the sys- tem and providing the customer service,” noted Baffoni. In its ninth year, she said this online housing bureau system has proven to be quite successful.
Games were held in Downingtown, West Chester and Toughkenamon, five miles southwest of Kennett Square, which also felt the impact of these visitors to the region. Kathi Lafferty, owner of the Mushroom Cap in Kennett Square, com- mented that “State Street in Kennett Square was buzzing with many soccer families on Memorial Day weekend,” posi- tively impacting many community busi- nesses, including her own.
Considering there are 16 players per team, plus family members, friends and coach- es, the economic impact of this tourna- ment alone has been estimated in the $2 million range.
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