US Open Could Sink $150M Into Local Economy

Gaithersburg and its immediate environs will see a significant boost in business next week as out-of-town golf fans arrive in large numbers to attend the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, according to Montgomery County tourism and economic development officials.

That’s because a significant portion of the parking spaces for the event are at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds and many fans will be riding shuttle buses from there to the famed Blue course on River Road where parking opportunities are scarce—and likely much more expensive.

Overall, County officials peg the one-week economic impact of the U.S. Open, one of golf’s four ‘majors’ at $150-million, and that’s thought to be on  the conservative side. Kelly Groff, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Visitors Bureau, said that figure is based on the $142-million impact of the 2008 U.S. Open held at the Torrey Pines course near San Diego.

“One interesting side effect to all this is the way the demand for hotel rooms has spread all the way out to Gaithersburg which is where most of the parking is,” she said.  “Many people are booking rooms out there to be close to the parking.”

Groff added that many of the large national chains have hotels in and around Gaithersburg, along I-270 and elsewhere.

“The County has about 10,000 hotel rooms and we expect all of them to be filled next week,” said Kristina Ellis, a spokeswoman for the County’s Department of Economic Development.

For more details on the business aspect of the Open, .