Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Presidents Cup might seem like a nice little event to you - pleasant enough, but nothing special. If so, you are obviously not in the hotel business in San Francisco.
"We consider this to be a priceless international marketing event," said Sue Muzzin, director of public relations for Pier 39. "At the end of the tourist season, this is kind of like a little kiss."
With all the events taking place, from golf to Fleet Week to next week's Oracle OpenWorld, local hotels are booked solid.
"At this point as many as 25 percent of overall hotel guests in the city are international," said Dan Goldes, chief stakeholder officer for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. "This is a great opportunity for San Francisco to be on TV around the world."
The showcase event, including blimp shots of the city, can only help to build San Francisco's brand. Goldes said the bureau is finding that the interest in the tournament in Asia is huge. That's partly because of Y.E. Yang and Ryo Ishikawa on the international team, but Goldes said Asian fans are also following American Anthony Kim, the son of Korean immigrants.
Then there is the Handlery Union Square Hotel, the unofficial headquarters for Australians visiting the city.
"We have 377 rooms," owner John Handlery said, "and I would say three-fourths of those are leisure travelers. And of that group, 90 percent is international."
Handlery said he has traveled to Australia at least once a year for the last 25. He calls the Presidents Cup "a slam dunk" for his client base.
The international team captain is Greg Norman and three Aussies - Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby, and Adam Scott - are playing on the team.
"The Australians sort of follow what they call 'gridiron,' although they say they don't understand why everyone has to get off the field when the ball changes hands," he said of American football.
"But golf they get."
This isn't all about sports. Two weeks ago the Cardiovascular Research Foundation held its annual conference, the largest medical meeting of its kind, in the city. This was the first year the event was not held in Washington, D.C., and there was some concern about attendance.
But the conference set an all-time attendance record of nearly 12,000 participants.
"We expected an increase in attendance from Asia (up roughly 50 percent from previous years) but were happily surprised that there was a significant increase (up 30 percent) in attendance from Europe," spokeswoman Irma Damhuis said.
The foundation was so pleased with the conference that it now plans to alternate the location between Washington and San Francisco.
Estelle Miller, director of tourism development for Hornblower Cruises, said you can't buy this kind of publicity.
"When people are sitting at their kitchen table, deciding where they want to go on holiday,"
Miller said, "I think there is far more influence from a sporting event like this than any advertising we can place."
And you thought it was just a golf tournament.
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