Winnipeg hosting the Grey Cup in 2025 could mean big business for the city’s hospitality sector, according to an expert.
“We have the best stadium in Canada, you know, the best football team in Canada, best football fans in Canada. So it’s really exciting to be able to hear that we’re going to be able to host that in 2025,” said Shaun Jeffrey, with the Manitoba Restaurant and Food Services Association.
The province said hosting the event will bring an estimated $90 million in economic activity to Manitoba.
This includes hotel reservations, dining, drinks, and other travel and tourism-related costs.
“You see all the different levels definitely rise because obviously you’re seeing a massive influx into the city, or you’re going to see all the hotels full and all those people need to eat,” said Jeffrey.
And it’s not just Winnipeg restaurants that can benefit, as travellers often stay or stop by the surrounding area on their way to the game.
Jeffrey said dine-in, take-out, and catering all see more activity with large events like this.
And with local restaurants still expected to be recovering from the pandemic for another 10 years, he said there’s huge potential for the game to help them catch up.
“That influx of capital into the province is pretty significant in trying to give us at least something to look forward to in November when we go into that winter season and right before Christmas. So it really just kind of expedites one of our busiest times here, which is the holiday season,” he said.
“During that seven to 10 days, it’s about a 1.5 per cent to two per cent increase in growth in our industry specifically, that’s what we saw last time when it was here. But really, again, it can fluctuate based on actual participation, which teams are here, what the weather’s like.”
The Grey Cup hosted in Regina in 2022 resulted in an estimated $60 million economic boost.
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