Westchester County”™s hospitality sector expects to score some business from next month”™s Super Bowl XLVIII although the bulk of visitors to one of the world”™s premier sporting events is expected to touch down elsewhere in the metropolitan region.
With the National Football League championship game only three weeks away in New Jersey”™s Meadowlands, the Westchester County tourism department has teamed with the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee on a Super Bowl website that features a tourist”™s guide to the main attractions, accommodations and restaurants in the county.
“We have a close proximity to the city and stadium,” said Natasha Caputo, director of Westchester County Tourism and Film. “We”™re going to be enthusiastic and welcoming, and we”™re working with the Super Bowl Host Committee to create this portal” at escapes. visitwestchesterny.com/football. “We can”™t discount the fact that we have lots of hotels, restaurants and transportation companies.”
Westchester”™s hotel industry is less sanguine about catching much of a spike in trade from Super Bowl fans and revelers. While Manhattan and New Jersey hoteliers have seen a rush of reservations, most hotel managers here expect business to remain at its relatively slow winter pace.
Richard Friedman, general manager of DoubleTree by Hilton in Tarrytown, said most Super Bowl visitors already have booked hotels in Manhattan or in New Jersey near MetLife Stadium, on whose frozen turf the game will be played Feb. 2.
“Westchester is pretty far off the beaten paths,” said Friedman, whose hotel is a member of the Westchester Hotel Association. “We may get some push from people who couldn”™t get rooms in the city or near the stadium. But as of now, I”™m not seeing anything yet.”
At a recent meeting of the 33-member Westchester Hotel Association, hotel managers agreed the hospitality business will stay at normal levels during Super Bowl week, said Dan Conte, Westchester Hotel Association president and general manager of the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown. They have been cautious about spending on marketing and advertising for the event.
“We”™re going to save our marketing and resource dollars for things that will make sense for us,” said Conte. “Advertising and marketing tens of thousands of dollars to try and attract a Super Bowl clientele is a high-risk initiative. There”™s bigger fish for us to fry.”
Few hotel managers in Westchester are putting together Super Bowl packages or hosting any events prior to the game.
Castle Hotel and Spa in Tarrytown is an exception. Spokeswoman Brittney Baeriswil said CEOs and CFOs in Westchester have booked eight of its 30 guest rooms for Super Bowl weekend. With limited parking at the stadium and a snowstorm in the forecast, the hotel will host an indoor tailgating event open to the public on Super Bowl Sunday.
“Before the game, people can ”˜tailgate”™ at the Tapestry Lounge in the castle,” Baeriswil said. “We”™ll have finger foods, such as spicy tuna rolls, organic chicken sauté and lobster salad sliders. We”™ll also have local beers, champagne, scotch and a full bar open.”
While LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy, Newark, Morristown and Teterboro airports expect heavy traffic in corporate and private jets for the Super Bowl, the Westchester County Airport won”™t see as much, said airport manager Peter Scherrer.
He said about three dozen private and corporate jets have made reservations for landings there, although some that have booked space might instead fly into another airport in the region. The county airport can accommodate up to 65 private jets, depending on the size of the aircraft.
Scherrer said Westchester also may get the overflow if private-plane traffic is too heavy at other airports.
The county does not offer any coach bus services to MetLife Stadium from the airport. “Most people here make reservations to take limos or personal service vehicles into NYC and New Jersey to spend time there before the Super Bowl,” Scherrer said.
Limousine Service of Westchester Chauffeured Transportation, based in West Harrison near the county airport, is more optimistic about its Super Bowl profits than the county”™s hotel industry. The private car service company has been taking advanced reservations and about a dozen customers have confirmed plans to use its services to get to MetLife Stadium.
“Things will start picking up a couple of weeks before the event,” said Melissa Thornton, CEO of LSW. “Ground transportation is the last thing people think about, believe it or not, and there will be a lot of last-minute requests for vehicles.”
Thornton said her company will also provide taxis for customers needing rides to and from Super Bowl after-parties in Manhattan and throughout Westchester.
Andrew Stoppelmann, CEO of Red Oak Transportation in Port Chester, said the Super Bowl week will be a busy time for his company”™s 55-vehicle fleet. He expects even more business if the New England Patriots advance to the Super Bowl.
Stoppelmann said Red Oak will charge its normal hourly rates for Super Bowl clients. The company did make one service change for the sport and entertainment extravaganza: customers are required to use its services for a minimum of 12 hours.
“We”™re looking to be sold out shortly,” Stoppelmann said. “We still have our business clients to juggle with the Super Bowl-related activities. All seven of our large vehicles, which don”™t handle corporate transportation, are booked.”
Stoppelmann said 70 percent of Red Oak Transportation”™s fleet will carry Super Bowl-related clientele, with 30 of its 55 vehicles stationed in the MetLife Stadium parking lot while customers attend the game.
Stoppelmann is wary of the snowstorm predicted for Super Bowl weekend. “We”™re at the mercy of the weather and roads,” he said. “As long as the roads are clear, we will be operating.”
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