In addition to the eight performing choirs from Butler County, three local friendship concerts will bring in visitors to the area, the Butler County Visitors Bureau said.
Area businesses said they haven’t seen the impact yet.
Wingate by Wyndham in West Chester and Holiday Inn Express hotels in Middletown and West Chester said business is as expected— but nothing that would hint to the thousands flocking to downtown.
“It’s not impacting me at all,” said Patrice Bender, general manager at the West Chester Holiday Inn Express. “I haven’t seen anything — haven’t had any groups or choirs. I thought I was going to see a major impact because of pushing out Cincinnati people.”
The World Choir Games has been called the Olympics of choral music and is held every two years — this year’s is the 7th World Choir Games, with previous competitions held in Austria, China, Germany and South Korea.
The Games will have competitions downtown and free friendship concerts scattered around the area. About 60 countries will be represented by 360 choirs at the Games. Of those, 162 choirs represent the U.S., 90 of which are within an hour’s drive of downtown.
“This is a great part of America for people,” said Nick Vehr, managing director of the World Choir Games 2012. “There’s a great love of music, arts and culture in our region and I think also because of the first-class facilities for competitions and concerts that are all within a walkable grid in downtown Cincinnati.”
Cincinnati has been planning the World Choir Games since 2009, when it was awarded the host of the first Games in the United States.
Shawn Stidham, director of sales at Courtyard by Marriott in Hamilton, said the anticipated impact of Cincinnati’s World Choir Games because it’s never happened in neither the region nor the nation is a bit difficult to quantify.
Stidham used a term called “compression,” meaning that there’s a chance that hotels in Cincinnati will sell out due to the games, causing travelers to the region for other reasons to find alternatives to downtown hotels.
“We expect to be busy,” he said. “Whether that’s due to the choir games or compression, we don’t know.”
The Avis rental car location in Fairfield hasn’t seen an increase in business yet either, said Lauren Cooper, its agency operator.
She said she thinks much of the reservation traffic has gone to the company’s counterparts further south, especially near the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport. Cooper said, though, that she’s sure that Fairfield’s reservations will book up for next week.
The Games requires tickets for the Opening, Closing and awards ceremonies, the competitions themselves and themed celebration concerts, which range from pop to global harmony. The friendship concerts hosted in various locations around the area are free.
More than 35,000 tickets have been sold for the various events and over 3,000 tickets were sold between just Monday and Tuesday, said Kacie Bryant, ticketing manager of the Cincinnati Organizing Committee for the 2012 Games.
Most of the ticket holders are regional residents, Bryant said.
Butler County’s three friendship concerts — one in Fairfield, one in Hamilton and one in West Chester — coupled with area attractions are bound to bring visitors in, said Butler County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Mark Hecquet.
“Any time you bring in the volume of people that’s being talked about to downtown, it’s going to be an economic push out and spill-out to the county,” he said.
Hamilton’s concert is at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Fitton Center.
West Chester’s The Square at Union Centre is hosting a friendship concert July 6 at 7 p.m. after an in-depth site selection process, said Barbara Wilson, public information and marketing officer for West Chester.
“We thought it would be a great gathering opportunity for the community — an opportunity to be part of the larger event taking place in Cincinnati,” she said.
She said requirements are minimal — host communities are required to cover transportation costs for choirs from Cincinnati to the concert location, she said, as well as risers and a sound system.
Village Green Park in Fairfield is hosting its friendship concert on July 5 at 7 p.m. in partnership with the city and the Fairfield school district.
The city isn’t a stranger to large events at the park, where it’s hosted fireworks and concerts before, said Ben Strickler, community events coordinator.
It will host choirs from Germany and Thailand, the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus and the Fairfield Choraliers.
“People are really excited to be a part of an international event coming to Cincinnati,” Strickler said.
And that participation extends to singing.
Eight choirs from Butler County and 11 from Warren County will be participating in the choir games.
Two new categories were added in this year’s competition — the barbershop and show choir groups, to showcase American music styles, Games organizers said.
Fairfield High School’s Choraliers, a nationally top-ranked show choir, is one of the 10 show choirs competing in the Show Choir Division on July 12. Four choirs in their category are from outside the country, said Jeff Clark, choir director.
“I told the students that it’s like going on a world tour, but the tour is in your backyard,” he said.
The Choir Games coordinators invited the Choraliers to compete in the Games in 2011, Clark said, and because members were able to sign up early, they only had to pay $75 each.
Choraliers student director Sam Chenoweth, a rising senior at Fairfield High School, said that though the choir has competed many times across the country, this will be a unique experience for all involved.
“Anytime something big happens in the area, it brings the community together,” Chenoweth said. “The community should be pretty proud of it.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5236 or beena.raghavendran@coxinc.com.
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