LA City Council Eyes Windfall From Rose Bowl, Parade
PASADENA (CBSLA.com) — Officials in the city of Los Angeles are looking for ways to cash in on the upcoming Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl game.
KNX 1070's Claudia Peschiutta reports City Council members say the economic windfall from the New Year's Day events is not limited to the city of Pasadena.
LA City Council Eyes Windfall From Rose Bowl, Parade
This year, Stanford and Michigan State - teams with two of college football's biggest fan bases - will square off Jan. 1 in the newly renovated Rose Bowl stadium nestled in Arroyo Seco.
Both the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game attract about 760,000 visitors annually, 70 percent of whom come from outside Los Angeles County, according to a report (PDF) dated Dec. 17 presented to the Council.
Total spending tied directly to visitors in town for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl is estimated at nearly $140 million, according to the report.
And in anticipation of about half of all non-locals staying overnight, City Councilman Tom LaBonge has introduced a motion (PDF) that asks the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board to report back to the City Council on the economic impacts of both events.
"I think there may have been a misconception that the Tournament of Roses is a local event, and it's not," said one City Council member. "We expect the impact to be very similar to last year, if not more."
Projections for tourist spending last year hovered around $38 million, with an overall regional projected impact of about $200 million, according to officials.
