ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A new report commissioned by Greater Saint Louis Inc. and its partners figures the upcoming Cardinals baseball season will generate more than $300 million in economic impact for the region.
As you might expect, that has local tourism officials pretty excited.
Explore Saint Louis Chief Marketing Officer Brian Hall says out-of-town visitors are projected to account for more than 40% of fans at Cardinals games, and the money generated by a Cardinals season helps support the jobs of 90,000 in the local hospitality industry.
Hall calls this upcoming weekend "tourism heaven" as 100,000 sports fans are expected to attend baseball, hockey, and Supercross events in St. Louis. He says hotel rooms in the region are expected to approach 90% occupancy.
"Year to date we are about 10% off hotel occupancy, compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. That's improved from 20% down in 2021, and 42% down in 2020. That's what I call a comeback," Hall says.
Hall says out-of-town visitors seem to be liking what they see of St. Louis, "Seventy-percent of those we've surveyed indicate their impression and perceptions of St. Louis were improved as a result of the tourism experience here in our community."
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