 "Photo: THE REVIEW/File Photo")
As millions of people plan to descend on Washington D.C. in January to watch President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, businesses in Delaware are already seeing the effect of increased tourism.
Linda Parkowski, director of tourism for the Delaware Economic Development Office , said tourism in the state is receiving a significant boost due to the multitude of people making the trek to the presidential inauguration who need a place to stay.
She said it is too early to tell exactly how much money Delaware will take in from inauguration related expenditures, but she believes the event will provide a welcome influx of money to the state during a traditionally slow time of the year in terms of tourism.
"Usually in Delaware, the winter period - November, December, January and February - are slower times for tourism," Parkowski said. "To have the inauguration in January will definitely boost Delaware's economy."
She said she was not expecting such a large number of tourists requesting to stay in Delaware for the inauguration.
"I am a little bit surprised," Parkowski said. "When Clinton was inaugurated, we did have some inquiries in Delaware, but nothing to this extent. From what I understand, hotels are getting inquiries from California, Ohio, Illinois, - all over the place. People are flying into Philly to rent rooms in Delaware."
One such hotel experiencing the effects of the inauguration is the Courtyard Newark at the University of Delaware, located on the university's campus.
Bill Sullivan, managing director of the Courtyard Newark at the University of Delaware, said his hotel sold out all 126 of its rooms within a few weeks of the election. However, because one group had to cancel reservations because they could not secure bus transportation into Washington, D.C., 60 rooms became available.
Sullivan said he has no doubt the remaining available rooms will be snatched up by others eager to attend the inauguration in January.
"We have already sold about 15 of them, and we do expect to sell out, as do many hotels in the state," he said.
Also the former chairman of the Delaware Hotel and Lodging Association, Sullivan said he expects Delaware hotels to take in nearly $500,000 between lodging and dining accommodations.
Toni Parker, the charter sales manager for Delaware Express, said her company's 19 buses quickly sold out by the Thursday after the election.
She said she then contacted an affiliate of Delaware Express and was able to obtain an additional five buses, also sold out quickly.
Parker said she would consider chartering more buses for the inauguration, but she does not know if there are any extra ones available, due to the demand for transportation to the inauguration.
"At this point, there's none around," she said. "With that kind of sellout in one day, even the hotels around here are full."
Many of Parker's clients who booked buses are traveling to Delaware from great distances.
"I have two groups coming in from California - they'll stay in Wilmington one day and the other day in Dover Downs - and two groups from New Orleans staying in Wilmington," Parker said. "When we first started getting phone calls, people were looking for hotel rooms in Washington, and rooms were like $700 a night. They were sold out even with the exorbitant fees."
Sullivan said he has no plans to follow in the footsteps of many Washington, D.C., hotels that have been charging double or even triple the amount normal rooms cost for the inauguration.
"We're just happy to get the rooms filled at our standard rates," he said. "It's good business for us and we're real happy to take care of people."
George Fiorile, vice president and general manager of hotel operations for Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, said he believes the inauguration will not only be good for Delaware's economy, but for promoting the state of Delaware as well.
"I think more people will be visiting the state that have probably never been here before," Fiorile said. "We have some groups coming from as far away as Texas."
He said his hotel started receiving calls about a week after the election.
"I must say it was a surprise," Fiorile said. "We didn't anticipate that much activity, but over the last couple of weeks we've gotten quite a few inquiries."
While he is not able to disclose exactly how many of Dover Downs' rooms have been booked, Fiorile said he is anticipating a lot of business.
"I expect it will be close to capacity," he said.
Sophomore Andrew Grunwald, director of communications for the College Democrats, said he is excited to attend the inauguration to celebrate the results of his campaigning efforts for Obama and to be a part of history.
Grunwald is one of the lucky ones who will not need to scramble to find a hotel room, he said, because he lives in Maryland, a short distance from Washington, D.C. The only problem is actually getting there.
"I wanted to take the metro but they're saying they're going to be overbooked," Grunwald said. "There's 1.5 million people trying to take the train."
He said he is not surprised Delaware's hotels are filling up so fast. While he said he thinks some of the interest in Delaware could be due to the fact that Vice President-elect Joe Biden hails from the state, Grunwald said he thinks most of the excitement in going to the inauguration is because of the significance of Obama's victory.
"I'm sure all of the hotels will be booked.," he said. "It's a historical event that people really are going to want to see. They're going to do whatever it takes to find a way."
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