Despite losing an annual event that generates much of the summer revenue for Athens County, a visitors bureau representative said at yesterday's City Council meeting that a special event this summer could make up for or even exceed the amount lost.
Athens has hosted the American Legion State Baseball Tournament for 45 years, but facility problems caused the event to move to Lancaster this year, taking the $400,000 of revenue it typically brings to Athens with it, said Paige Alost, the executive director of the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
However, this June, the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure will be passing through Athens, bringing 3,000 cyclists to the county, she said.
Hopefully the adventure will generate $400
000 to $600 000 for Athens County Alost said.
GOBA is an annual weeklong sightseeing tour through Ohio, according to the GOBA Web site. Bicyclists will ride about 50 miles per day. The tour this year passes through Logan, McConnelsville, Marietta, Athens and McArthur.
It can only help our summer economy
said Athens City Councilman Jim Sands, D-at large. When people go on trips they expect to come back with cool stuff. There are lots of places to find cool stuff in Athens.
Sands said the last time GOBA came to Athens, about 10 years ago, it generated a lot of revenue for local businesses, restaurants and hotels.
Although GOBA will likely make up for the lost profits from the state baseball championship this summer, Alost said she hopes the championship, which occurred at Ohio University's Bob Wren Stadium and area high school fields, will return for future summers.
The visitors bureau coordinates events and conferences around Athens County to generate income for the county. It receives 35 percent of its funding from Athens City lodging tax income, which was about $86,000 in 2009, Alost said. The rest of the money, about $245,000 comes from county lodging tax incomes.
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Alex Stuckey
