Downtown Cleveland’s economy gets big boost after busy weekend

CLEVELAND (WJW) – Easily, hundreds of thousands of people flocked downtown for three major events – the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions, American League Championship Series, and Battle of Ohio – generating what’s expected to be tens of millions of dollars in tourism-based revenue for the local economy.

“The city felt electric,” Destination Cleveland’s VP of Communications and PR Emily Lauer said.

Lots of visitors means lots of money for hotels, bars and restaurants and other businesses in the area.

“We’re at about 170,000 people just at events,” Lauer said. “You had those who came down just to be bystanders or take in the games at bars, just to be around. You’re probably close to 200,000, maybe even more over the weekend. That volume of people in downtown Cleveland is amazing and is great for our restaurants, our hotels.”

Restaurants along East 4th Street certainly benefitted from the busy weekend. Managers who spoke to FOX 8 said sales are way up.

“All that boosts our sales, people come check our place out,” Blue Agave Manager Hector Rodriguez said. “(They) try some new foods and they love it. They love our places here on East 4th.”

Bartenders and servers are some of the people who benefitted the most. Rodriguez hopes the increased tourism continues.

“The Cavs start this week, actually,” he said. “And that’s going to help us a lot. It’s going to help the whole city, you know, hopefully they do great this year.”

Lauer said economic studies will be conducted in the coming months to gauge how much cash flowed into Cleveland, but she said it’s great momentum moving forward with Cavaliers basketball and the holidays.

“The first big event in 2025 is going to be the first and second rounds of the Men’s NCAA tournament,” she said. “That’ll be over at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. So, we’re not close to done yet.”