ASHLAND — Ashland’s three-day BalloonFest event that focuses on balloons — those that fly and those that float — is estimated to nearly double the city’s population and rake in around $2 million in tourism revenue.
“And that’s a little conservative,” said Denny Bittle, president of the Ashland County Commissioners.
Mindi White, president of BalloonFest’s planning committee, said she expects 18,000 to 20,000 people to visit the area over the festival’s three days.
The festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary starting Thursday after a hiatus through the height of the pandemic in 2020. It lasts through Saturday. Click here for a schedule of events.
Attractions include a nightly balloon glow, hot air balloon flights, around 20 food vendors and a chance to kick off summer with crowds from all over Ohio and the tri-state area.
Holiday Inn Express was booked through the weekend by Tuesday, said Amy Daubenspeck, president of Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce.
Hampton Inn and Suites, which has 81 rooms total, only had two rooms available on Wednesday, said Christina Mansfield, the hotel’s manager.
“They’ll be gone by the end of the week. That’s common for BalloonFest weekend,” she said, adding 2020 was an anomaly. “We’re glad to see things returning to normal. But we recovered very quickly.”
There’s no way of knowing if all those hotel guests have come for BalloonFest, but the three-day party “certainly is wildly popular,” Daubenspeck said.
Daubenspeck said day-trip visitors spend around $116 per person and overnight visitors spend around $370 per person each day.
“We field calls from people all over the state who are looking for information on the event,” Daubenspeck said. “For those who are making a weekend of it, I would say that sales tax and bed tax would be the biggest beneficiaries … hotels, restaurants, retail and gas stations.”
Cindy Funk, the county’s auditor, said bed tax revenue is collected in July. It’s hard to put a number on it year-to-year, but this year will certainly be better than last, she said.
“We had nothing last year, so anything is better than nothing … I mean, 20,000 people will be very helpful on the economics of the city and the county. I’m sure people will go canoeing in Loudonville, use the trails down there — it’s a win-win for all of Ashland County,” Funk said.
Bittle figured the average BalloonFest visitor could potentially spend around $100 on food, gas and lodging. Multiply that by 20,000, and that’s a “tremendous dollar number.”
“But you figure most of the time they’re not just going to come watch balloons,” he said. “They’ll likely check out the town, the gas stations, Walmart for what they need … so I think $2 million is a minimum impact to the county.”
Organizers are also hoping the event pulls people to downtown Ashland, where several new eateries have opened since 2019, the last time BalloonFest was held.
“Historically, downtown is not as busy during BalloonFest weekend,” Daubenspeck said.
Nevertheless, Ashland Main Street, a nonprofit focused on driving business to the city’s downtown area, bought a co-op advertisement highlighting businesses there, Daubenspeck said.
“Downtown looks a lot different than it did in 2019,” she said.
But the true affect of BalloonFest, and any large event that drives tourism in Ashland County, is the visibility to out-of-towners, Bittle said.
“That’s priceless. Visitors, when they come (to Ashland) will see it’s a great community. We’ve got new schools, we’re growing. When people see growth in the community, that attracts all sorts of attention, like business owners who might want to come in and set up base,” Bittle said.
The event’s success is largely dependent on the weather, though.
Last year’s event was canceled because of pandemic restrictions on gatherings, but event organizers planned to have a flyover of 17 hot air balloons. The weather changed those plans.
The forecast for Ashland on Thursday is sunny with a high of 84, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland. The forecasts for the next two days look grim, with a chance of rain and thunderstorms on Friday and again on Saturday.
“I don’t know where all the people go when it rains, but as soon as the sun comes back out, they come back,” said White.
