“Events like this are what we would call blockbuster events for our community. [The Ryder Cup] brings people from all over the world to our community.”
Those words came from Jason Ring, Executive Director of the Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau, in discussing this week’s Ryder Cup action at Whistling Straits, located less than 7-miles south of the Manitowoc-Sheboygan County line.
“Filling our hotel rooms, bringing business to our restaurants, our attractions, retail businesses,” Ring explained. “Anybody that can service the visitor is certainly going to do really well in our community this week.”
Seehafer News asked the head of the official destination marketing organization for Manitowoc County about the economic impact on the region and lakeshore area.
“We projected $135-million of overall economic impact for the Ryder Cup itself,” he explained. “We’re not the specific community hosting it, but we’re certainly very close and kind of that overflow, spill over a community that we could see 10-percent or more of the impact from visitor spending.”
Ring told us of at least two popular restaurants in Manitowoc that have expanded their evening hours this week to serve customers from around the world.
He also explained that hotel rooms are “pretty well sold (out) in the community. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t find a place for a visitor who wants to come to the prestigious event.”
Ring urged them to call the MAVCB (920-686-3070) office for a list of available properties and their approximate location to the golf event.
