Fewer corporations have been sending people to the Masters Golf Tournament. As a result rental property prices have taken a hit. (GPB image)
Now once-expensive rental homes sit un-rented and the market is flooded with smaller properties. That means prices are down. But it doesn’t mean people aren’t spending money in Augusta.
Barry White with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau says last year restaurant sales were up nearly 50 percent.
"We saw people that may have not been going to the large catered events at a corporate hospitality house but a lot more individuals who were out looking for a meal on their own," said White.
City officials say the media frenzy surrounding Tiger Woods' return to golf boosted rentals but not nearly enough to make up for the absence of big business.
