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NEWS BRIEFS
Tourney’s a boost for eateries, hotels
Members of the Wall, NJ Wombats U15 soccer team dine at Max and Erma's on Friday, July 3, 2009, at Pullman Square.
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HUNTINGTON -- The rooms are booked and the youth are well-fed, thanks to the many area hotels and restaurants who have welcomed more than 20,000 visitors to the Tri-State.
Teams from more than 13 states are competing in Cabell County through Tuesday as part of the US Youth Soccer Region I Championships. The games take place at Barboursville City Park and the Scott Orthopedic Soccer Complex at Huntington YMCA Kennedy Center, just north of Huntington.
The influx of visitors is big business for many area hotels and eateries.
"Any time you have 15 (thousand) or 20,000 people come visit your city, that's a great opportunity and it's nice to see," said Ron Smith, owner of Chili Willi's Mexican Cantina.
Smith said his restaurant on 4th Avenue in downtown Huntington was busy Thursday evening following the championships' opening ceremony, with some parties as large as 20 or 30 people.
"A lot of people are staying downtown and, kind of to our surprise, big groups of people walked to the stadium (Thursday)," Smith said. "They walked right by our restaurant. That was convenient."
Location has worked to many businesses' benefit in Barboursville, too, according to Rachel Reynolds, general manager at Tascali's Decades Pasta and Grill.
She said many of the teams pass the restaurant on U.S. 60 on their way to the soccer fields.
"Our business is probably three times what it usually is since the soccer tournament started," she said.
She said championship referees, hotel staff and others also have referred many visitors to Tascali's.
"With the economy the way it is, it's great for business," she said.
She said the restaurant prepared for the tournament by scheduling extra kitchen and wait staff to take more orders.
The lodging business also is booming throughout the area thanks to soccer.
Ramada Limited and Super 8 in Huntington are completely booked this weekend, with many teams and families from Pennsylvania in one hotel and many from New York in the other, said Anna Pope, general manager for both hotels.
"We've had a great time," Pope said. "These teams have been wonderful, and they've all commented on West Virginia's hospitality."
Staff at Super 8 helped one soccer athlete by picking up his uniform from the post office after he forgot it in New York. The hotels also offered movie nights and invited the kids to play video games and grill out.
Staff also have been pointing the out-of-towners to various attractions.
"Some are going golfing today and all kinds of things," Pope said Friday.
The tournament is expected to generate a $12.5 million economic boost for the Tri-State, as hotels from Ashland to Charleston are booked throughout the tournament.
Huntington alone is expected to receive between $7 million and $7.5 million in tourism money from tournament-goers.
Various teams and families have booked almost all of the rooms at Fairfield Inn in Ashland, Ky., according to hotel assistant manager Mandy Manier.
"This really, really helped the revenue around here for all of the hotels. It really gave us a little bit of a boost," she said.
Manier said the hotel is booked through Monday with many youths and teenagers occupying its 63 rooms.
"We are very fast-paced with them here," she said. "You put that many kids in a lobby and wow."
She said hotel staff were keeping busy and even provided the kids with cookies and popcorn on their first night.
Barboursville hotel staffs have been busy helping the soccer groups, too.
"It was crazy (Thursday) of course when they checked in. They all checked in at one time," said Marcy Kitchen, sales manager for Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Barboursville.
She said the hotel was prepared for the rush of visitors, though, with extra bedding and food for breakfast.
Approximately nine teams and family members from Delaware filled the 134 rooms at the Barboursville Holiday Inn, she said.
"Ninety-nine percent of our hotel is filled with them here," she said.
