Tourney isn’t a big win for tourism
Restrictions in place because of COVID-19 have meant far fewer fans staying in hotels
If they aren’t in town for the 15day NCAA women’s basketball tournament, it could take visitors to San Antonio a while to figure out that one of the biggest annual events in collegiate sports is unfolding here.
Banners and signs don’t announce the tournament on most downtown streets.
The NCAA scrapped concerts and other fan events, hallmarks of its past tournaments in the city, to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19 — the same reason the organization restricted the number of people who could attend the tournament’s 63 games.
Some downtown hotels have been full, receiving a badly needed revenue bump from the tournament. But the benefits haven’t extended to lodging beyond the inner city, as they did in 2018, when San Antonio hosted the men’s Final Four basketball tournament.
Three years ago, hotels were busy throughout the region.
The restrictions instituted to slow COVID-19’S spread have bled this year’s women’s tournament of some of its crowd-pleasing energy.
Downtown hotels, restaurants, bars and tourist attractions — key parts of San Antonio’s ailing hospitality industry — are glad to have the NCAA business. But the tournament isn’t the economic panacea they’d hoped for.
Far from it.
This year, the NCAA bought out seven hotels for players, coaches and staff and closed them to the public. The aim is to create a “bubble” around the teams to keep out the coronavirus.
After struggling for a year to fill rooms, the tournament looked like it would be sweet relief.
The Hilton Palacio del Rio on the River Walk is one of those hotels hosting the teams. But general manager Robert Thrailkill wonders whether his 485-room property would have done better if it hadn’t hosted eight teams.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said.
Hoteliers finalized discounted room deals with the NCAA in January. They couldn’t have foreseen the sunny, mild weather that would arrive in San Antonio just in time for spring break — perfect conditions for vacationers.
The annual rite started this year the week of March 7. But travel to San Antonio was heaviest the week of March 14, when many Texas universities and public school districts went on break.
Area hotels found themselves with waves of guests, many of them from elsewhere in Texas and hungry to spend a few days away from home.
NCAA teams began arriving March 16, ahead of the tournament’s March 21 start, locking up rooms at the height of spring break.
The NCAA negotiated agreements with the seven hotels that generally worked out to about $100 per room per night, said Jenny Carnes, chief operating officer of San Antonio Sports, the nonprofit that pitches the city for sports events.
Thrailkill said his hotel could have gotten as much as $70 a night more than the NCAA’S agreed-to rate by filling rooms with spring breakers.
“We made the business decision, and we live with the consequences,” he said.
NCAA officials did not respond to questions about negotiations with hotel operators and the tournament’s economic impact.
Originally, San Antonio was supposed to host the three final games of the tournament April 2 and 4. But NCAA officials announced Feb. 5 that they were moving all the tournament games to the San Antonio area.
The tournament ends April 4 with the championship game at the Alamodome.
On Thursday, with scores of teams knocked out of the tournament, the Marriott Rivercenter became the sole hotel in San Antonio housing the last 16 teams.
Small crowds
The economic impact of this year’s tournament on San Antonio’s hospitality industry doesn’t compare to the 2018 NCAA men’s Final Four. Even hotels on San Antonio’s outskirts were full three years ago, said Chris Hagee, CEO of the Hagee Hospitality Group.
Corporations organized meetings in San Antonio with potential clients, luring them with tickets to the Final Four.
“It was the biggest event of 2018 for the San Antonio hospitality industry — the apex,” Hagee said.
He owns the Homewood Suites San Antonio North and manages the Best Western Plus Sunset Suites Riverwalk. He said the property haven’t seen an occupancy bump during the women’s tournament.
Carnes of San Antonio Sports isn’t surprised.
“Those seven hotels got the boost, and good for them,” she said. “But the rest of the hotel community won’t feel any of it, unfortunately.”
This year’s caps on game attendance have resulted in far fewer fans traveling to San Antonio than for past women’s basketball tournaments. The initial games were open only to players’ families. Fans began attending the final games starting Saturday in the Alamodome, but attendance is limited to 3,800, just 17 percent of normal capacity.
The turnout was sparse at two Saturday afternoon games, falling short of the 3,800-fan limit. The Iowa-connecticut game drew 2,418 spectators, and the Baylormichigan matchup attracted 2,131, according to the NCAA.
Some spectators came from other Texas cities and weren’t planning to stay overnight.
Leonard Gordon of Houston took his daughter, Kayla, a University of Connecticut student, to watch her Huskies beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 92-72 on Saturday.
“We are just here for the day,” Gordon said. “We are going to stop at In-n-out Burger on the way back and pump some money into the local economy.”
Bill and Lisa Meyer of Dayton, Ohio, walked up to the Alamodome’s ticket office to grab lastminute tickets for both games for $15 and $25 a piece, respectively.
The couple had been sightseeing in San Antonio for four days and said they figured they’d take in a couple of games.
“It’s fun, but I am surprised how empty the arena is,” Bill Meyer said.
Carnes said fans staying for more than one day of the tournament were concentrated in a few hotels.
“There would be a lot more need for hotel rooms if we had 32,000 people at the Alamodome for the Final Four,” she said. “But because of the limitations on fan attendance, there will be fewer rooms used by our visiting fans.”
The NCAA announced the restrictions after negotiations with the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District and other city officials. Carnes said the attendance restrictions in San Antonio reflect the cautious approach advocated by Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.
The publicity bonanza that’s usually one of the perks of hosting a major NCAA tournament isn’t panning out this year, either.
In addition to the games, many of the visiting reporters and columnists have focused on gender inequities. Players and coaches have brought attention to poorly equipped training rooms and food and a COVID-19 testing program that aren’t up the standards of the men’s tournament in Indianapolis.
The River Walk and the Alamo aren’t getting much attention from out-of-town news media.
The upside
Not everyone is grumbling about the tournament.
Several downtown hotels, apart from the seven that housed players, said they’re benefiting some from the tournament.
Hotel Valencia Riverwalk took in guests whose reservations were transferred from the nearby Holiday Inn San Antonio Riverwalk, which housed NCAA teams. The transfers resulted in 160 room nights, said Stacy Seaborn, Hotel Valencia’s director of sales and marketing.
Even so, occupancy at the 213room hotel didn’t break 40 percent on weekdays last week, though it was busy this weekend.
For next weekend, the last one before the April 4 championship game, the hotel is almost fully booked. It’s also Easter weekend.
Rooms will go for around $219 per night next weekend, which is less than half of what Hotel Valencia charged during the 2018 men’s tournament, when available hotel rooms in the region were scarce.
“We were sold out,” Seaborn said. “We were taking five-night minimums, and our rates were over $500 a night, prepaid.”
The Menger Hotel, which wasn’t one of the team hotels, is also happy with its share of the tournament business.
Garvin O’neil, the Menger’s general manager, said the hotel is housing NCAA administrative personnel and bus drivers who transport journalists and others.
Rates, however, have been as low at $94 a night for those in the NCAA room block.
Nevertheless, the general manager said the Menger’s occupancy rate could climb as high as 90 percent the weekend before the championship game.
He sees the tournament business, along with the surprising influx of spring break visitors, as a good sign that travelers are beginning to return to San Antonio.
Thrailkill at the Hilton Palacio said he’s optimistic, even if housing NCAA players wasn’t the business boon hoteliers had anticipated.
“If we pull this off, and the NCAA sees no issues, I think we should pat ourselves on the back and say, ‘Good job,’” he said.
The NCAA men’s Final Four is scheduled again in San Antonio in 2025.
Hotel Valencia’s Seaborn said a group of fans has booked reservations — prepaid and nonrefundable — at more than $400 a night.