Bullhead City Mayor Jack Hakim was a guest speaker at the Bullhead City/Mohave Valley Association of REALTORS quarterly membership luncheon yesterday.
When Mayor Hakim opened the floor for questions, I asked him about the success of the the Bullhead City Regatta, and its impact on our local economy.
Given that Bullhead City’s budget relies on sales tax revenue, having 27,000+ visitors in town for a few days is a clear win, but the Mayor highlighted some other areas, good and bad, vowing to make it better next year:
I know there were problems at the landing zone, and it broke my heart. It will never happen again. We know what we need to do and we are going to make it right.
Hey, this event grew up fast. I’m glad to see Bullhead City leadership publicly acknowledging complaints and committing to fix them.
Some possible solutions being explored include a bigger beach landing area, and better staggering of floats at the launch site to spread out the traffic.
Regatta is Bullhead City’s signature event
Mayor Hakim shared that the Bullhead City Regatta generated $530,000 in revenues, not including sales tax revenue, and was “funded without any taxpayer money.” An estimate of sales tax revenue generated from the Regatta is expected in the first week of October.
The final count of 27,117 was adjusted down from the previously reported 29,000, which Mayor Hakim attributed to the way wristbands were distributed. Apparently the original estimate of 29,000 was based on the number of wristbands given to various distributors, but not all of those were sold.
He also commented on the demographic diverstity of attendees, pointing out that many were first-timers that otherwise would not have visited the area. And they came from allover, including 28 states, Spain, Italy, Germany, and even Dubai. Yes, Dubai.
The Bullhead City Regatta has grown very quickly into major attraction, or as Mayor Hakim put it, “the signature piece for Bullhead City.”
And the repsonse has been mostly positive, but not everyone is a fan. Citing everything from health and safety, to environmental issues, the few detractors I’ve encountered online have been pretty vocal.
Sure, there have been some negatives over the years, but it’s hard to argue with positives; Vistors come from all over the world to have a good time, spend some money, and they tell their friends.
Personally, I’m a big fan.
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