Businesses hope for financial liftoff

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - After a very slow summer tourism season, Albuquerque businesses hope the Balloon Fiesta will provide the lift they need.

Businesses and the state Tourism Department are offering a lot of good deals for fiesta fans.

"We have big crowds," merchant Loyce Arnall said.  "They are in a good mood.  It's like a fair."

With the economy in the state it's in, people are looking for deals, even on vacation.  The Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau along with merchants are trying to take advantage of that.

"Value is of course paramount today," bureau president Dale Lockett said.  "That is what social media is enabling us to do.  We are marketing the concept of coupons."

Those deals are all over the city, and hotels have been advertising deals in newspapers all over the country.

The visitors bureau said a contest for an all-expense-paid trip to the Balloon Fiesta was a huge hit. One million people viewed it, and 12,000 entered it.

That's just one of many good signs.

"In talking with our hotels they've indicated they're having a very good early indication," said Lockett.