Between the Ironman Triathlon and the Senior PGA Championships this weekend, Tulsa Regional Tourism expects an economic impact of more than $ 65 million.
Ray Hoyt, Tulsa regional tourism president, said Ironman had more than $ 14 million in economic impact and that the Senior PGA Tour at the Southern Hills Country Club is expected to raise $ 49 million.
He said after the pandemic they were thrilled to see these numbers.
“Anytime that would be huge, but the fact that we’re getting out of the pandemic and stepping straight into these two events is fantastic,” said Hoyt.
Hundreds of people also come to Tulsa for the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Pete Patel, the CEO of Promise Hotels, said his hotels were fully booked in downtown Tulsa, something they have not seen since the pandemic.
“There was a time when we were as low as some of our downtown hotels that were 5 percent full about a year ago. We’re just thrilled to see so many people come to Tulsa,” said Patel.
Patel said they have had reservations from across the country and are ready to welcome people to Tulsa.
“It’s our opportunity to introduce Tulsa, Oklahoma to the world,” he said.
Patel said hotels are still under staff shortages. When checking in it is best to use patience.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65):fill(FFF)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/ZGHKPDYCHVGOFFEJWEMXFNRLWA.jpg "Might marks first month since pandemic Orange County didn’t must dip into tourism tax reserves"){kind=small}
