Although it’s unknown by how much, the 106th Grey Cup is expected to bring a boost to the Edmonton economy.
Approximately 50,000 people will attend the CFL championship game Sunday.
An estimated 7,000 tickets were sold to fans outside of Alberta, meaning the crowd will be filled with people from across the country.
“I think people planned to come to the Grey Cup regardless of who’s coming,” said Melanie Stroh, the director of sales and marketing for the Westin Edmonton.
The Westin is among the downtown hotels that has seen an uptick in bookings.
“From the host city, it would have been great to see our team,” acknowledge Stroh, “but from a business standpoint, it’s almost better to see our rivals Calgary showing up.”
While Edmonton Economic Development estimates an extra $64 million will be spent because of the Grey Cup, the city’s chief economist doesn’t believe drawing a dollar figure is so simple.
According to John Rose, an estimate of the extra spending is difficult to make because it’s unknown if the money spent by Edmontonians on the Grey Cup would have normally been spent elsewhere in the city.
“With respect to Edmontonians participating in Grey Cup events, that’s very unclear,” Rose said.
But he did say there was a guaranteed benefit to Edmonton hosting the 106th CFL championship.
“In this case, because of all the visitors outside, I would say pretty much unambiguously this is going to be a good thing for the Edmonton economy.”
Rose also called the Grey Cup an opportunity for Edmonton to showcase itself to tourists.
“It’s not simply a question of their spending and their direct impact on the economy.”
With files from Nahreman Issa
