Sunday, Jul. 29, 2007

Cash left in hydros wake in Tri-Cities

By Mary Hopkin, Herald staff writer

John Logan relaxed poolside on the Clover Island Inn's deck last week, settling in for his 25th consecutive Water Follies weekend.

The North Seattle man estimates he and his group of 80 hydrophiles, which calls their group Tri-Cities Fun in the Sun, will spend about $10,000 in the Tri-Cities over the weekend.

"All of us book rooms at Clover Island and we buy a VIP section on the river and we have a great time," said Logan, a retired property manager.

Kris Watkins, president and CEO of the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau, estimates the Lamb Weston Columbia Cup will draw about 5,000 out-of-towners to the Tri-Cities this week.

Kathy Balcom, president of the Tri-City Water Follies, said all the follies private areas have been sold out and she expects to see an increase in this year's follies crowd.

"We've been selling a lot of tickets out of our office, and just by virtue of the calls there seems to be a lot of interest from outside the area," Balcom said.

Like Logan's group, those visitors help fill hotel rooms, eat at local restaurants, buy snacks, ice and beer at local groceries and fill up their gas tanks before heading home.

"The exact numbers are hard for us to get our arms around," Watkins said. "And many will come and stay with family or friends, so we have no way of really knowing."

The convention bureau estimates visitors will spend about $1.5 million while they're here. It's one of the busiest weekends of the year for local hotels, she said.

"Friday night there are a few rooms available but Saturday night people will have a hard time finding available guest rooms," Watkins said.

In 2005, on the Saturday night of Water Follies, local hotel rooms were 84 percent full. Last year, occupancy of the areas' 3,400 guest rooms was 85 percent.

Hotels close to the river, such as the Clover Island Inn, are nearly always booked. And this year is no exception.

Manager Mark Blotz always looks forward to Follies weekend. And not just because his waterfront hotel with its ringside balconies overlooking the Columbia River is booked. But because the Follies fanatics, like Logan's crowd, are a lot of fun.

"We try to do some extra things, like little parties out by the pool," Blotz said. "We put a little bar out there and barbecue steaks and kabobs."

And the Oh Boy! Oberto team that stays there helps keep the follies atmosphere going. Farther inland, at Hilton Garden Inn, the rooms are booked, as well. But manager Jerry Beach can't really link his guests to the Columbia Cup. At about 5 p.m. Saturday, a Harley-Davidson owners group convention will roar into town as part of a cross-country jaunt and spend the night at the Kennewick hotel.

"It's about 1,000 people," said Kris Watkins.

In addition, a state Little League tournament brought in about 450 people, and the Three Rivers Softball Tournament is expected to draw another 200. And the Washington State Independent Auto Dealers Association is also meeting in town this weekend, which also is expected to bring in about 200 people.

"We are really full -- but it's been like that almost every weekend," said Watkins. "Any more, it's not any one single event that is bringing people in."

Chuck Stack, owner of the local Roundtable Pizza stores, said that although he sponsored Friday's Dash for Cash, he'll likely get more business from the ball tournaments than the follies.

"We spend a lot of money to promote it, but we really don't see any increase in business," Stack said.

Many of the follies enthusiasts stick to the riverside restaurants and bars, he said.

Logan's group includes a retired chef who is in charge of feeding the hungry crew. Several members of the group made a shopping run last week for supplies.

Cliff Rigsbee, general manager of the Albertson's stores in south Richland and Kennewick, said follies weekend means a lot more early morning foot traffic.

"It's the ice and pop and beer customers -- a lot of people from out of town, and people getting ready for parties," he said.

The Pasco and Kennewick Albertsons stores typically see the biggest boost, and today the customer service desks will open three hours early, at 6 a.m., to sell boat race tickets.

"We're also going to have a tent at the races to sell sandwiches and water," Rigsbee said.

Businesses that cater to the tourist sector aren't the only benefactors during boat race weekend.

Aric Ellison, the owner of Sundown Sport and Marine, generally sees a quick boost in boat sales prior to the races.

"People will set a goal to have a boat (by Follies weekend), so we do see people making that decision," he said.

And the business also sees a rush of people buying anchors, anchor lines, bumpers and bimini tops, he said.

The boat race weekend itself used to be pretty dull at Sundown Sport, which also services all the Water Follies rescue boats. But that has changed as well.

"It used to be so slow during the races we could almost close -- but now we see more regular activity," he said.

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