The 2011 NHL All-Star Weekend generated an estimated $11.4 million in direct visitor spending for Raleigh and Wake County, reports the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The $11.4 million was said to be a conservative estimate that does not include local spending, nor does it include a multiplier. It represents direct visitor spending only, which is new money coming into the local economy.
In addition to the visitor spending, the NHL All-Star Weekend also produced $49 million in media value for Greater Raleigh. This figure was researched and calculated by Meltwater News, a division of the San Francisco-based monitoring and analytics firm Meltwater Group. Meltwater used readership data from Nielsen to compute the $49 million media value for the NHL All-Star Weekend based on more than 685,000 domestic and international media impressions.
“We are very proud of how this entire community came together to make NHL All-Star Weekend in the Triangle a tremendous success. It is clear from the comments of the fans, media and executives who came to North Carolina, that the weekend made a tremendous impact on their impressions of this market. They now understand why we are so lucky to call this vibrant area our home,” Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said.
The 2011 NHL All-Star Weekend included: the NHL All-Star Game, Honda SuperSkills Competition, NHL Fan Fair, NHL All-Star Wide Open, NHL All-Star 5K presented by visitRaleigh, and numerous private parties and special events. Combined, these events brought approximately 18,900 visitors from outside of the Triangle, to the area, generating 10,551 hotel room nights. Total attendance figures, including both local and out-of-town attendees, for the weekend’s festivities was estimated to be 138,000.
“The attendance and direct visitor spending estimates for the NHL All-Star Weekend are tremendous, but the enormous amount of positive media coverage is especially impressive. It tells our story to the world, of how our area is clearly capable, and highly successful, at hosting events of this magnitude,” said Denny Edwards, president and CEO of the Greater Raleigh CVB.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at