On May 21st, a large pack of world class bicyclists powered through Big Bear on their next-to-last leg of a broader bicycle "tour" (race) through Southern California. The first group entered the Valley at the Dam around 2:30pm, skirted the North Shore on 38, hung a right at Stanfield Cut-off, and finished at Snow Valley. There was a big celebration among racers, their entourage, and bicycling fans. It shifted to the Village by early evening. The Village was closed for this purpose.
At Monday's (July 12th) City Council meeting, some of the local Amgen Tour organizers gave a presentation, citing the preliminary results of the tour. 15,000 to 25,000 fans were expected to attend; about 10,000 actually came. 7,600 were visitors. It was estimated that these fans spent around $1,500,000 while here.
The City decided to take-on the Amgen tour about a year ago. Around $135,000 was needed from various sources such as the City of Big Bear Lake, the County, Chamber, RA, and other supporters. The City pledged and actually spent $40,000.
The tour organizers acknowledged that the Valley did not recoup their immediate costs. That is clearly the case with the City. If most of the $1,500,000 spent was taxable (sales tax and TOT), then the City will receive approximately $15,000 in tax revenue. That leaves around $25,000 in direct expenses/loss for this event. The Village was essentially empty on the Friday evening of the event.
Tour organizers contend that the Amgen Tour provided invaluable exposure of Big Bear to the rest of the world. They showed a video clip of the bicyclists arriving and cycling through our Valley. It was quite impressive, indeed! Tour organizers claim that this clip has been (and will continue to be) shown worldwide. Their hope/expectation is that more people will come to Big Bear during the year and at the next Amgen Tour in the Spring, bringing income that will offset the $40k/$135k costs to the City and other government entities.
Well, what do you the citizens of the Valley think? Was the expense and effort worth it for the City and Valley? Should the City participate again next year?
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Sincerely,
Michael
14 comments:
In my opinion yes. The amount of publicity Big Beat got was invaluable, this town could never afford to pay for that much sports tourism press, and we are a sports tourism destination. The TV coverage I saw was glowingly positive and plentiful. And although it's anecdotal, I have seen substantially more cyclists on our roads ever since.
If we are $25,000 in the hole, why on earth would we want to use our tax dollars again so a few great riders can have a bike race. Let there sponsers pay for it if it is such a great opportunity for world exposure.
Come on people. Yes, it is a wonderful idea but when the piggy bank is empty you have to start living within your means.
The true value of AMGEN wasn't in just this event but rather in its contribution to the accumulation of multiple events such as fishing derbies, CATS, pageants, air shows, astonomy conferences, etc.
Promotion of the Big Bear community can benefit all, especially if promoted by all. There is more to BBV than the village.
As a one-shot deal, according to your numbers, the Amgen wasn't a money-maker for the city.
However, what can't be as easily counted is the long-term benefit---the publicity for the valley and a track record for putting on a large successful event. These benefits multiply over time and each time the race comes to us.
As time goes on, I imagine the event will be able to increase outside sponsorship money, relying less on city funds. But that happens over time and with continued successes.
Opportunity has knocked, the city and the citizens made the great event happen. Let's not stop dead in our tracks now!
This was only the first time. I'm sure there were lessons learned that we could benefit from next year, e.g., the Snow Summit activies competed with the downtown activities and parking was confusing. This can be remedied, and less money can be spent, given a more realistic expectation for how many may attend. If we see ourselves as an economy based on tourists, then it's worth at least one more try.
The only purpose of publicity is increased awareness of Big Bear and to increase revenue to local businesses. The problem arises when the city, chamber and RA are involved, as they take money from ALL lodges and rental agencies in the form of TOT, dues or "marketing contributions" to fund these events but then channel referrals and resulting reservations to a select few like
Northwoods, Big Bear Vacations and
Cool Cabins.
I wrote a letter to the editor about this that was published a couple weeks after the race. I did ask for these numbers and appreciate Mr. Karp sharing this information. I believe in reality and the facts, not the spin of maybe. I'm getting fed up with the supposed officials tauting something for what it is not. Many of the ideas presented by the city council are very biased and lean toward each council members agenda and not for the community. One of the village business owners had a very valid concern about how much business this event brought to the area and HE WAS 100% RIGHT, it didn't bring home the bacon, it actually cost this community. Just take a look at the council members and the business they own and you will know what I'm talking about. Not only did this race leave a dent in the budget, a race the following day left their trashy stickers on our streets that should have been removed after the race. I just wish the city council would do what's right for this community and make decisions of common sense rather than for their own agendas.
Mr. Johnson quotes other events in the area that contribute to the community but most of the events he mentions are not funded by the city.
There may be more to the income then stated, as I own two units near Snow Summit. I did rent to bike racers that weekend and made close to $1,000. At the time of the post/blog I had not reported my income to the City yet. How many more are there out there like me? Could we have made more money then reported?
Hello Anonymous,
The $1,500,000 figure was based upon RA estimates. I believe these were derived from interviews, surveys and observations. Admittedly a rough estimate, but all we have to go on.
I'm glad the event helped you out during what is traditionally a slow period. Are you usually rented on a weekend during this time of year?
As a local business owner in the Village, it was one of the worst weekends for sales we ever had!
It was that way for most everyone I spoke to. The bike enthusiasts and everyone connected to it, didn't even stay overnight. The Motels and restaurants didn't fair well either as far as I know. The visitors, as usual, left an abundant supply of trash and litter as well for the city and locals to pick up and dispose of.
Closing the Village to traffic and having shuttles run from Summit was a joke.
Maybe it "put Big Bear on the map" but the cost was too high.
Carl Darett
Village Faire
Any time Big Bear is mentioned in the media the residual effect lasts far longer than the dates of the event. We live in the premier outdoor recreation venue of SoCal. In my opinion we should always take the opportunity to step up and take our place as such. The exposure we received could not be bought for ten times the amount spent. We will all benefit far into the future. Lets keep the ball rolling and keep the events coming!
I dunno, is tourism important to our Valley? The television coverage ALONE far exceeded the $40K. Gorgeous images of Big Bear were broadcast around the world in 200 different countries. Did it meet everyone's expectations? I'm sure it didn't and probably, like most things, never will. Certainly things can be improved next time, but for a first effort it went very well. I've also noticed more cyclists around the Valley since then. I hope Big Bear is lucky enough again to beat out 50 other cities and get the Tour of California again.
“We have been treated to one of the best cycling stages we’ve seen in America, ever.”
– Phil Liggett, legendary cycling commentator on the 2010 Stage 6 finishing in Big Bear Lake
Seems most of those who tauted this as a wonderful event although it costs the city tax dollars are probably in debt and don't have a problem putting an extra charge on the credit card to TRY to keep up with the Jones'. Same concept but you don't seem to care and then try to justify the extra debt the city is saddled with. Be concerned because many of these comments were posted by elected officials.
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