As a large city within a swing state, experts say, Colorado Springs can expect to keep getting attention from presidential candidates and their staff this election season, but it’s unclear whether that attention will generate extra dollars for the city.

Visits by Donald Trump and running mate Mike Pence within a week of each other brought the national spotlight to Colorado Springs, but there’s not a lot of proof that the city will benefit economically from such visits, local economists and political experts say.

“Trump came here and there was probably a small bump that day,” said Tatiana Bailey, director of the UCCS Economic Forum. “It’s very possible that people came from around the area and either spent the night or came that day and spent money here. But it would have been modest, not like the four-day Democratic convention like Denver had four years ago.”

Tucker Hart Adams, a senior partner with Summit Economics LLC, agreed that any economic benefit from either candidate visiting the city would be minimal.

“Maybe there will be a little bump and more hot dogs get sold,” she said. “I can see how being seen in the national media might help, but at best it will be a wash because of those people who don’t agree with the politics. … I don’t think it’s positive economically whether the event is for Hillary or for Trump.”

What will really impact the economy isn’t what is happening locally but rather how the election as a whole will influence the national economy, Hart Adams said.

“I think uncertainty is always bad for the economy, and this is a time of enormous uncertainty,” she said.

Putting a price tag on the expenses and benefits of the recent Trump rally at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is a bit tough. For the university, the cost was about $5,200, which was paid for by the Trump campaign, said Tom Hutton, university spokesman. Those expenses included $1,600 for the rental of the Gallogly Events Center, a $1,600 set-up fee and about $540 for university staff members to assist at the event, according to the event contract.

Hutton said there were additional costs to the university, including water stations set up on campus to help visitors standing outside in the heat. Other university staff members also helped out, but they were already on a scheduled work day, so there was not an additional expense, he said.

He doesn’t think that hosting the rally will have any future economic impact on the university.

“We don’t really think there’s going to be an impact on enrollment or donations to the campus; we don’t have any evidence of that,” he said. “For the most part, the focus was on Trump and not UCCS.”

The Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that the event attracted about 2,750 visitors, some of whom may have stayed the night or spent additional money locally. The bureau estimates spending by those visitors at about $88,000 to the city.

Chelsy Offutt, the bureau’s director of communications, called the estimate “speculation” and “a very rough estimate” as the office did not work with event organizers or hotels before the event to confirm the number of visitors and how many may have stayed the night. She said mentioning Colorado Springs in coverage of the event in national and international media can help promote the city.

“Anytime they are talking about the destination, we are getting put on the map and it certainly brings awareness to us,” she said.

But all publicity might not be good publicity, Hart Adams said. The Trump rally, for instance, didn’t go off seamlessly. The candidate showed up late after getting stuck in an elevator and then blasted the fire marshal for keeping some ticket holders out after the venue reached capacity.

“I didn’t hear him say that Colorado Springs is the best place ever,” Hart Adams said. “He said you have bad elevators and an unreasonable fire marshal.”

No matter the impact, Colorado Springs residents can expect a lot of attention in coming months from both sides of the political aisle. Although Democrats in the county are outnumbered almost 2-to-1 by Republicans, the party can’t ignore Colorado Springs, said Josh Dunn, a political science professor at UCCS.

“There are more Democrats in Colorado Springs than there are in Pueblo because we are so much larger in population,” he said. “The Clinton campaign has to make sure it doesn’t lose too badly in Colorado Springs … it’s a swing state, and there are lots of Democrats here, even if they are a distinct minority.”

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets his supporters at the Gallogly Events Center at UCCS on Friday, July 29, 2016. Thousands of people showed up to attend the rally. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette

STACIE SCOTT

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets his supporters at the Gallogly Events Center at UCCS on Friday, July 29, 2016. Thousands of people showed up to attend the rally. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette

STACIE SCOTT