TRI-CITIES AREA HOTELS JOIN WITH BMS; DROP RATES

Five Tri-Cities area hotels, in partnership with Bristol Motor Speedway, lowered per-night room rates for 2011 and dropped a previous three-night minimum to two in a continuing effort to address issues facing race fans today.

“This is just the beginning of our efforts to offer more affordable lodging options to our race fans,” said Jerry Caldwell, BMS Executive Vice President and General Manager.  “We want to work with properties in the region, not just limited to the Tri-Cities area, to give our fans more options when planning their trip to Bristol.”

The AmericInn Lodge & Suites in Jonesborough, Tenn., The Comfort Inn in Abingdon and Bristol, Va., The Comfort Suites in Abingdon, Va., and the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Bristol, Va., lowered requirements for the coming racing season, the first properties to join the fan-friendly Bristol initiative.

“In recent years, we talked with many of our race fans who face more challenges, obviously many of them financial,” said Caldwell. “They want to come to the races, and our challenge is to remove any obstacles so that they can continue to enjoy the Bristol Experience.

“We adjusted our own pricing structure here at BMS, and some of the area properties agreed to do the same. Surely, others have made similar moves, but these notified us of their plans to give race fans a break.”

The participating hotels will be listed on the BMS website, in the BMS Magazine and named in mailings to ticket holders.

“If other hotels – both local and across the region – reduced prices and minimum requirements from a year ago, we gladly will highlight their initiatives as well,” Caldwell said. “We also want to thank the Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City Chambers of Commerce and the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association for helping us reach out to local and regional lodging property owners.”

Bristol Motor Speedway kicks off its 50th NASCAR season with Ford Fan Friday qualifying March 18, followed by the Scotts EZ Seed 300 March 19 and the Food City 500 March 20. In August, night racing returns with the Aug. 24 O’Reilly 200 and UNOH Perfect Storm 150 doubleheader, followed by the Food City 250 Aug. 26 and the IRWIN Tools Night Race Aug. 27.

Tickets are available to all events and may be purchased by calling the BMS ticket office toll free at 1-866-415-4158, 423-BRISTOL (274-7865) or 423-989-6900 or by visiting www.bristoltix.com.

 


Credit: BMS PR