Despite
its image as a white-collar event played in a wealthy town before corporate titans,
officials in Brookline and neighbouring Boston say the Ryder Cup was a pot of
gold that will benefit everything from local parks to youth programs.
As the tents came down at
The Country Club, and the nation basked in the glow of Sunday's incredible U.S.
Victory, the Boston area was left to ring up its share of the profits from a week
of golf mania.
``I
don't think the region has seen an event of this magnitude,'' gushed Patrick Moscaritolo,
president of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Local
merchants have yet to tally up exact figures, but Moscaritolo estimated the Ryder
Cup generated £100 million in spending in the area as golf fans -- many
of them spending corporate money -- packed local hotels, restaurants and shops.
Ryder Cup attendees
-- 30,000 of whom flocked to the course daily -- booked roughly 7,000 hotel rooms
per night for six nights last week, he said. That's just under half of the Greater
Boston area's total of 15,000 hotel rooms.
Revenues
generated by hotel, meal and merchandise taxes also gave the local economy a shot
in the arm, Moscaritolo said. And business was brisk for area workers, from waiters
working longer hours to taxi drivers shuttling visitors around.
A
Ryder Cup corporate event at Boston's Franklin Park raised more than $1 million
for the city, to be set aside for Parks Department scholarships and children's
programs.
Then there
are the future rewards the city will reap after putting its best face forward.
``Our visitor industry
could be cashing checks from Ryder Cup well into the next decade,'' he said, pointing
to an audience that included many CEOs and managers of international companies.
``These are high-end decision makers. They can come back with family members and
friends ... and bring conventions and meetings here.''
In
Brookline, where the storied Country Club will receive an estimated $5 million
for playing host to the event, town officials had no complaints as they ticked
off a list of improvements made possible by the Ryder Cup.
Under
an agreement with The Country Club, the town will receive up to $3 million for
use of town land for parking and hospitality tents, said Town Administrator Richard
Kelliher. When it hosted the U.S. Open in 1988, Brookline received £80,000,
he added.
The money
will go into the town's treasury, and roughly £500,000 is earmarked for
the municipal Putterham Meadows golf course, which adjoins The Country Club and
was shut down to provide parking and tents, Kelliher said.
Much
of the leftover money will be used for long-term capital improvements, he said.
