Super Bowl 50 spurs economic boost for Central Coast

“We felt that driving 80 miles south was more attractive alternative than driving 60 miles north,” said Tim Ryan, Pebble Beach Resorts vice president of sales and global business development.

Pebble Beach Resorts said they started wooing their customers a year and a half ago enticing them with the benefits of staying in Pebble Beach as opposed to San Francisco for the Super Bowl.

“We’re almost booked to capacity now for the Thursday to Monday of the Super Bowl week,” said Ryan.

The resort has even created special packages for people to stay and play golf.

“We’re giving customers the opportunity to check three things off their bucket list,” said Ryan. “They can come and play the Pebble Beach Golf course. They can attend the Super Bowl and they can come back at the end of the Super Bowl and be here for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.”

Out of towners and international guests are their core customers.

Becoming a destination partner with the Super Bowl host committee has also been a driving force.

“That has helped us through their social media and their marketing channels direct guests to stay with us.”

The Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau says it’s also getting in on the Super Bowl 50 action.

“We don’t anticipate full occupancy here in Monterey County but we are targeting San Francisco and San Jose residents,” said Alliah Sheta, Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau director of communications and community relations.

“The view is bigger than the game,” is the tagline they’re using to market what Monterey has to offer through social media, printed ads and publications.

“We’re really excited about the Super Bowl being in our backyard, it increases awareness for Monterey County,” said Sheta. “Anything we can do to showcase off the inspiration of our destination and help keep the 24,000 employees working through the year is good for business.”

The Santa Cruz visitor center tells us area hotels expect things to heat up the last week of January once the teams are announced.