CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Tim Brady continues to tout the $37.2 million in economic impact from the 2023 Charleston Sternwheel Regatta.
Brady, on Thursday’s “580 Live” heard on 580-WCHS, said the numbers released last week are a prime example of why it was important to bring the Regatta back another year.
The five-day event, which took place June 30 to July 4, drew in more than 220,000 people locally and from out-of-state.
“Twenty percent of those were visitors from beyond a 50-mile radius. We define a visitor as someone who comes from 50 miles away or beyond and spends at least two hours in the city. Of those folks, 65 percent of our visitors stayed overnight,” Brady said.
The event supported 7,948 jobs in the Kanawha Valley, Brady said.
Brady said the Regatta gives people a sense of community and they’re seeing that in their tourism numbers.
“We look at Regatta as this generating engine,” he said. “Yes, it generates a lot of economic impact, but it also generates a lot of sense of place, a sense of pride and then that encourages people to invite more friends and family to come, so it drives our tourism up overall throughout the course of a year.”
The Regatta brought in $6 million dollars more than last year.
The event returned in 2022 after a 13-year hiatus.