The Peach State

Junior Tennis Classic tournament held Memorial Day Weekend in Peachtree

City netted an economic impact of $1.59 million, according to official

projections.

Virgil Christian,

director of the Peachtree City Tennis Center, said at Monday night's Development

Authority meeting that the figure could actually be higher, but he would

rather estimate on the conservative side.

For example,

during the calculations, Christian plugged a $90 per person per day spending

estimate into the formula, although others argue it could have been as

high as $140, he said.

"It's

a very standard formula," Christian said.

The $90 per

day figure was multiplied by the number of persons staying each day for

the tournament and an "economic multiplier." The multiplier

helps make sure the figure reflects how many times out-of-town dollars

"turn over" in the community, said authority member Tate Godfrey.

The tournament

helps fill up local hotel rooms on the weekends when they are typically

less crowded than during the week, Godfrey added.

"I talked

to some folks over at The Avenue and they said they had a great Memorial

Day weekend," Christian said, noting retailers there noticed a pickup

in business due to the tournament.

This year's

Peach State featured a qualifying round, bringing the total number of

participants from 231 last year to 322 this year, said tournament organizer

Sean Ferreira. A total of 28 different states, including California, were

represented in the playing field.

The result

was a net profit of $8,000, largely thanks to increased support from sponsors,

Ferreira said.

"The field

is getting stronger and stronger," Ferreira said, adding that it

features some of the top players from throughout the country.

It also helped

that two tennis product manufacturers sent company representatives to

the tournament, lending prestige to the event, Ferreira said. With over

10 hours of rain delays, the tournament was in danger of being cancelled,

but they were able to complete play as planned, he added.

Approximately

16 area youths competed in the tournament, Ferreira said. Also, a number

of college coaches attended the event after receiving invitations from

Christian, Ferreira said.

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