EL PASO -- Nine hotels will get the biggest economic boost from the U.S. Bowling Congress Women's Championships, members of the hospitality industry say.

The vast majority of the 40,000 visitors coming to El Paso for the event will stay at hotels contracted by the Bowling Congress. Seven of these nine hotels are between Downtown and the El Paso International Airport.

Many of the bowlers say will rely on hotel shuttle service and public transportation to get around, limiting their access to attractions outside the city or on its fringes.

"It costs a lot of money to come for this, so we didn't want to rent a car," said Charlene Allen, a bowler from Anchorage, Alaska, who is staying at the DoubleTree. "But the hotel shuttle will only take us within a three-mile radius of the hotel, so we're mostly stuck Downtown."

In addition to the DoubleTree, the nine hotels are the Camino Real, Embassy Suites, GuestHouse International Suites, Hampton Inn and Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn Sunland Park, Hyatt Place El Paso Airport and Wingate by Wyndham, next to Bassett Place Mall.

The bowling tournament began March 27 and will run until July 3. Organizers say visitors in town for the event will spend as much as $48 million, mostly on meals, lodging and shopping.

Bill Blaziek, general manager of the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the city expects a 6 percent or 7 percent increase in hotel lodging during the tournament.

Joe Frandina, president of the El

Paso Hotel-Motel Association, said an influx of bowlers during the next three months will help businesses beyond the Downtown.

"Any event this large has a ripple effect," Frandina said. "The Downtown hotels and those nearer the airport will be the most impacted, but every hotel in El Paso will feel some effect, especially as non-bowling visitors are pushed out to alternative lodging because the centrally located hotels are full."

Event organizers say bowlers will stay an average of four days in El Paso, longer than the 2å-day average for other cities that have hosted the tournament, Blaziek said. Most will spend fewer than two days bowling, so Blaziek expects the extra time to be used for sightseeing.

"Many of the bowlers are coming out of cold belts and want to take advantage of our nice weather," Blaziek said. "These extra days will allow them to find their way around the community, take advantage of local recommendations and spread some of the spending."

Blaziek said the attractions visitors seem most interested in are the Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino, Downtown museums and malls. The visitors bureau is advising bowlers not to travel to Juárez.

"We've already seen more visitors around the mall and especially at the movie theater," said Marguerite Byers, marketing manager of Bassett Place. "We are definitely expecting an upsurge in business and revenue because Bassett is so centrally located."

El Paso restaurants should also benefit from the bowling championships.

"We are expecting an increase in business, particularly Downtown near the convention center," said Bonnie Dominguez, president of the El Paso Restaurant Association. "Any restaurants within a close radius of the hotels the bowlers are staying at will also benefit."

Nicole Gomez may be reached at ngomez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6194.