Restaurants in downtown area are hit especially hard after other businesses closed up shop for the week and delegates are eating at their hotel.
Photo: Getty Images
Gordon Byrd with our sister station, WFLA, in Tampa tells us that many business owners in downtown Tampa are looking forward to the Republican National Convention wrapping up.
It's not providing the economic boost many were expecting, because several local offices and government entities either closed up shop for the week or moved to the suburbs, over security and traffic concerns.
Add to that the fact that the delegates are not staying downtown, so they are bussed into the area each day and are not seeking out lunch. This means that the restaurants that are popular for lunch with local workers are suffering. Not only are they not making a profit, but Byrd tells us they are losing money.
He says the civic leaders in Tampa requested that businesses stay open, so that the city doesn't "look like a ghost town". Now, the business owners that decided to stay open are considering asking for economic relief.
