Last week’s state softball tournament brought hundreds of visitors to not only the Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex, but also to Fort Dodge and the surrounding area.

Among those who benefited from the influx of guests throughout the week were Fort Dodge’s local businesses.

Kerrie Kuiper, executive director of the Fort Dodge Convention and Visitors Bureau, said business comes in from all across Iowa.

“Not only is it a time we can showcase the changes in Fort Dodge and development occurring, but there’s also direct spending occurring,” Kuiper said. “The visitors are staying in hotels, buying gas, going shopping. All of those make a large impact on the community.”

She’s seen firsthand the impact softball players, their families and supporters have on Fort Dodge.

“On Tuesday, when it was rained out, I was driving through the community,” she said. “There were school buses and vans at all sorts of businesses.”

She said she had a business meeting at a restaurant, which was filled with visitors and fans.

“I’ve visited a couple hotels throughout the week,” she said. “They were full of fans as well. It’s just a lot of different businesses that you’re going to see them in.”

Paul Cain, general manager of the Sports Page Bar & Grill, 2707 N. 15th St., said he’s seen an increase in business.

Friday afternoon, both the restaurant and parking lot were full of customers.

“We definitely see a lot of people come in,” he said, “a lot of extra traffic.”

He said this presents a great opportunity to increase business as well as interact with the visitors.

“It’s a big plus for us,” he said. “And a great opportunity to meet a lot of new people.”

The Crossroads Mall, 217 S. 25th St., has also seen a lot of activity, according to Melissa Verschoor, the mall’s marketing director.

“We do see more traffic during this time,” she said. “The teams find it a good place to meet and get together and just spend a little time together and do some shopping.”

Verschoor said the mall even has a bracket board keeping track of the tournament’s standings.

“It’s a great thing that we have here in town,” she said. “And we love to see everybody come in.”

Pizza deliveries have also gone up this week, according to Bridgette Petersen, shift leader at Marco’s Pizza, 1511 Second Ave. N.

“We definitely had a lot more deliveries going out,” she said, “especially at the hotels.”

Amy Von Bank, general manager at the Holiday Inn Express, 300 S. 31st St., said the hotel has welcomed both players and supporters of the teams.

“The people who came into the community were great,” she said. “And we enjoyed having the softball guests here in Fort Dodge. It’s a wonderful event we host in Fort Dodge and it brought a lot of great people to the hotel and we enjoyed having them here.”

Some of the visitors to town also enjoyed their experience.

“It’s very accommodating,” Julie Rethwisch, of Lansing, said. “There’s lots of variety and things to do while we wait. We might go bowling later to kill some time.”

Laurie Donald, of Benton, agreed.

“It’s just a good chance to cheer on the team,” she said. “We went to a good pizza place and we stayed overnight.”

Carol Sorensen, of Pleasant Valley, said she and her friends didn’t stay overnight but had they stayed the whole week they would have explored the town.

“But it’s a nice city,” she said. “And friendly people.”