EVERETT — City officials are hoping an international gymnastics tournament will draw at least 20,000 visitors — and several million dollars — to downtown businesses next year.
The Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships, a three-day competition, is scheduled to start April 8, 2016, at the Xfinity Arena.
Everett has hosted the championships once before, in 2012.
“Anecdotally, we know it was a huge success with hoteliers,” said Lanie McMullin, the city’s economic development director. “We filled hotel rooms. We filled restaurants.”
The city did not do any formal studies on the economic impact of the event, so no specific financial information is available, McMullin said. However, Xfinity Arena general manager Rick Comeau estimated that the 2012 championships brought $2.5 million to Everett.
The Xfinity Arena’s marketing department came up with the number, Comeau said. Their calculations tend to look at the attendance at an event, the hotel rooms that would be needed and length of the stay, and a rough estimate of food budgets for people staying in the area.
More than 300 athletes plan to compete in 2016, according to USA Gymnastics. That’s comparable to the 2012 turn-out. Three-day attendance in 2012 totaled 20,343 people — nearly triple the crowd at the 2008 tournament in California.
The success of the Everett event is what brought the competition back, said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. Coordinators are hoping for at least 20,000 people again.
For Xfinity Arena, the Pacific Rim Championships likely will be the biggest event of 2016, McMullin said. Comeau compared it to a Silvertips playoff run or a One Republic concert in terms of the number of seats filled. However, the international draw of the gymnastic competition is unique for the arena, he said.
Tickets go on sale later this year. Athletes and spectators will be seeking hotels, meals, supplies and souvenirs, she said.
Two hotels that didn’t exist in 2012 are on track to be open in April 2016, blocks away from the arena. A six-story Hampton Inn opened at 2931 W. Marine Dr. in 2014, the first new downtown hotel in 17 years.
An eight-story Courtyard by Marriott also should be finished by next April, McMullin said. It’s under construction at the corner of Colby Avenue and Wall Street.
The new lodgings mean a 68 percent increase in downtown Everett hotel rooms, according to numbers provided by Experience Everett, the city’s tourism arm. Three years ago, there were 410 rooms. By 2016, that number is expected reach 688.
The gymnastics competition falls several weeks shy of the hotels’ peak season, Experience Everett director Sean Straub said. The event puts people in rooms that normally wouldn’t be booked that time of year.
“They obviously house their athletes, and you’ll have families and spectators and coaches and a lot of other people who travel with the teams,” he said. “It can be a real bump for travel and tourism.”
He expects more people than downtown hotels can handle, which means Tulalip, south Everett and Marysville are likely to benefit. Penny specifically listed the Tulalip Resort Casino as one of the draws from the area in 2012.
Along with a direct boost to hotels, restaurants and shops, Everett gains international publicity from the competition, McMullin said.
“The event is televised and it brings people to Everett who never would have had a reason to come here,” she said.
The city is planning other activities around the competition. More information should be available at www.experienceeverett.com in the coming months. Possibilities include live music, whale watching tours and promotional discounts through local businesses.
The Pacific Rim Championships take place every two years. Olympic gold medalists have competed there in the past. Among them are Jordyn Wieber, Kyla Ross and Gabrielle Douglas from the U.S.
In 2014, Richmond, British Columbia, hosted the Pacific Rim Championships. Previous host cities include San Jose, Calif., and Melbourne, Australia.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com
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