Pasadena staged the collegiate championship game, but it was Orange County—particularly Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine—that won the tourism dollars. The Alabama and Texas football teams, their fans and followers, more than 6,000 visitors in all, spent last week in OC—a bonanza for hotels, restaurants and merchants coping with a sluggish economy and entering the slow season. “It was a very large win,” said Paul Cahill, GM of the Newport Beach Marriott, which served as the game’s media headquarters. Newport Beach tourism chief Gary Sherwin said folks in L.A. have been asking him, “How did you steal the business away from us?” He intends to keep them guessing: Newport Beach wants not only to host the BCS finalists when they return to Pasadena in 2014, but to land future Rose Bowl business after being sidelined from the annual game for the past decade. Outgoing Tournament of Roses Executive Director Mitch Dorger said an advisory committee of athletic officials will soon meet to discuss hospitality venues for next year and beyond, and Newport Beach is in the running. That contrasts with recent years, when the tournament steered Rose Bowl participants to hotels in Beverly Hills and Century City, held the press conferences in downtown L.A. and had the teams work out at the Home Depot Center in Carson. But with logistics for the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl and Jan. 7 title game overlapping, and weekday L.A. traffic posing an added challenge, Dorger said the tournament needed an alternate; Newport Beach offered the best package. Texas stayed at the Fairmont Newport Beach and practiced at UCI. Alabama stayed at the Westin South Coast Plaza and practiced at Orange Coast Community College. For the tournament committee’s viewing pleasure, Sherwin plans to show them testimonials from satisfied Texans and Alabamans …
Sherwin says a key to Newport Beach landing the BCS action was San Juan Capistrano resident Gary DiSano—a Newport Beach businessman (RGGL), former city planning commissioner and, not coincidentally, a longtime Tournament of Roses volunteer who became its president a year ago. A heads-up from DiSano got local officials working on details months in advance. DiSano didn’t get to see the outcome—he died of thyroid cancer in September at age 62. This year’s Rose Bowl and parade were dedicated to him, his family rode in the presidential car and military planes flew overhead to honor his Navy service in Vietnam …
Getting named a runner-up for the OCBJ’s Businessperson of the Year award isn’t the only New Year’s honor for market-share-grabbing Hyundai Motor America boss John Krafcik. He has placed fifth among 50 world auto execs on Motor Trend’s 2010 Power List. Irvine-based design wiz/hybrid visionary Henrik Fisker ranks 28th.
