Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Apocalypse weekend, or, a great time for an economic boost

A question was raised yesterday during a media walkthrough as to what the economic impact of the debate will be for Nashville. Convention and Visitors Bureau President Butch Spyridon told me he expects the economic impact of the city to be between $2-3 million, along the lines of the Americana Music Festival and Conference held earlier this month.

“The values of the media coverage going out of here – that’s where the real payoff is,” Spyridon said.

Spyridon estimated visiting media members have bought about 1,500 hotel rooms so far, which doesn’t include the other two huge events that will be happening this weekend: the Auburn-Vanderbilt football game that will draw ESPN’s College GameDay, and Bluegrass Fan Fest, which is expected to bring (updated Oct. 2) 3,000 people from outside Nashville.

Meanwhile, I have a really great parking spot at work that I’ll be taking offers for later this week.

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