Carmel business sees boost from Pro-Am

The AT&T Pro-AM brings thousands of celebrities and tourists from around the world to Pebble Beach and it’s also bringing tons of business to the area.

“It’s been a really busy day,” said Sandra Book, director of tourism with the Carmel Chamber of Commerce, “We’ve had about 500 who left here [Friday] on our shuttle bus to go out to the AT&T Pro-AM.”

Welcome numbers after bad weather last year slowed much of the expected traffic.

“It’s night and day, we have about doubled our numbers since last year,” Book said.

But even last year’s numbers were still big for local businesses.

“We weren’t accustomed to the AT&T traffic so I underestimated the first year,” said Sarah Kabat-Marcy, General Manager and partner at Cultura Comida y Bebida on Delores Street.

This year marks the second that the restaurant will serve Pro-Am visitors. With reservations nearly booked out for the rest of Pro-Am, the staff is gearing up for a busy weekend.

“Having that extra business in February is huge because elsewhere in the county, it’s not necessarily that busy with tourism,” said Kabat-Marcy, “So having AT&T – especially in Carmel, Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove – is a great bonus for business profits.”

It’s also keeping busy at the Carmel Chamber of Commerce as they welcome visitors from around the world to the Central Coast.

“I have a large volunteer staff and we’ve ran three shifts a day so that everyone can work a four hour shift,” said Book with the Chamber.

Though the Chamber says Friday is just the start of what will be a big weekend, plans are already being made for the next big events to come to Carmel.

“We’re going to gear up already for 2019 and of course the U.S. Open,” Book said.

Saturday is expected to be the busiest day of the weekend, shuttle buses will start leaving for Pebble Beach at 6 a.m. and go until 6 p.m.