Wildcat Fans to Lay Tracks for O.C. Hotels : Tours: Northwestern University alumni here for the Rose Bowl weekend will pour about $5 million into the local economy.

Minutes after watching Michigan beat Ohio State last month, Joseph Small lifted his telephone and set in motion a marketing blitz that will reap millions of dollars for Orange County’s hotels, shops and tourist spots during the traditionally slow week between Christmas and New Year’s.

The University of Michigan’s victory propelled Northwestern University into the Rose Bowl. And hours later, 85,000 brochures advertising pricey Rose Bowl hotel packages in Orange County were dropped in the mail to Northwestern alumni.

Bowl-starved Wildcat fans snapped up the 5,000 available tour packages--which cost $1,565 per person for air travel, hotel, parade and game, said Small, co-owner of Alumni Holidays Inc., an Illinois-based travel agency that books alumni association trips.

“I haven’t seen such enthusiasm, ever,” said Small, whose company has been selling Rose Bowl tours off and on for 27 years. “We had some people who had been to the 1949 Rose Bowl game [Northwestern’s last bowl appearance]. I think a lot of people promised themselves that if Northwestern ever went to the Rose Bowl again, they would be there.”

The local tourism industry figures to be a prime beneficiary because Alumni Holidays booked hotel rooms exclusively in Orange County for fans who bought the five-day Rose Bowl packages.

Starting Thursday, alums will be flocking to top hotels in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine, spilling into shops and restaurants and visiting Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and other local attractions. The tourists could pour as much as $5 million into the local economy, one analyst said.

But the county’s tourism officials acknowledge they were fortunate.

If favored Ohio State University had defeated Michigan and earned a trip to Pasadena, most of the Buckeye faithful would have stayed in Los Angeles.

The country’s other major agency that caters to alumni groups, Conlin-Dodds Travel, was prepared to offer similar travel packages to Ohio State alumni. But the Michigan agency had lined up hotel rooms only in West Los Angeles.

“Had Ohio State beaten Michigan, it would be a very quiet time in Newport Beach next week,” said Brian Small, co-owner of Alumni Holidays.

While football teams slug it out on the field New Year’s Day, cities and travel agencies compete just as fiercely throughout the year to line up alumni of the Big Ten champions heading for the Rose Bowl.

This is the second year in a row that Orange County has snared business that traditionally has been the exclusive domain of Los Angeles hotels.

And officials at Alumni Holidays say they are inclined to continue using Orange County hotels when the agency provides tour packages for Rose Bowl-bound schools.

“We took the Penn State Rose Bowl people there last year and we split them between Los Angeles and the Orange Coast,” Small said. “We decided it worked better in Orange County.”

Orange County’s recreational opportunities proved to be the deciding factor.

“We felt we could offer some nice options for people,” Small said. “With the beaches and shopping and everything, it just looked more attractive. People responded very well to Orange County last year.”

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Hotel managers say they are delighted.

“It’s just icing on the cake when you get this kind of business at this time of year,” said Bonnie Best, marketing director at Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. “And you never know you’re going to get it until the first of December.”

At the Westin, which housed the Penn State football team last year, Northwestern alumni have reserved all 390 rooms. The hotel expects to reap about $200,000 during their five-day stay.

Fans who start drifting in Thursday will find a big Northwestern banner in the lobby and hotel employees wearing pins, logos and other Wildcat paraphernalia, Best said.

For Rosalind Williams, the weeklong influx of tourists will culminate a campaign that began soon after Penn State fans packed their bags to return home from the 1995 Rose Bowl.

“We decided that whichever [Big Ten] team came to the Rose Bowl could make Newport Beach its headquarters,” said Williams, president and chief executive officer of the Newport Beach Conference & Visitors Center.

Williams, who ironically is an alum of Northwestern Rose Bowl foe USC, arranged for travel agents and alumni directors from Big Ten schools to fly out for three or four days of entertaining.

“We took them to all our major hotels,” she said. They ate at the Four Seasons and the Ritz. They toured the yachts. They walked the beaches. They rode the ferry from Balboa Island and checked out the golf at Pelican Hill Golf Club. They also took the Newport Beach Harbor cruise.

“We even suggested a Rose Bowl party at Newport Dunes, but in the end, people from the Midwest had a hard time believing you could have a party outside in December and be comfortable,” Williams said with a chuckle.

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The junket worked.

This week, Northwestern’s purple and black will adorn lobbies at some of the county’s posh hotels: Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club, the Hyatt Newporter, the Sutton Place Hotel and the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach, the Westin South Coast Plaza and the Red Lion Hotel/Orange County Airport in Costa Mesa, and the Hyatt Regency Irvine.

“It’s like the prize at the end of the battle,” Williams said.

At the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club, the Northwestern’s colors have been on display for days. The team stayed at the hotel last week before moving to Pasadena, a Tournament of Roses requirement.

But in a couple of days, the alumni will start to stream in. “I’ve got 1,200 people coming here,” Bob Allen, the hotel’s sales manager, said appreciatively.

Meanwhile, Knott’s Berry Farm is trying to cash in on the Rose Bowl frenzy. From Tuesday to Jan. 2, the Buena Park theme park will admit all Northwestern and USC fans for half price, if they wear their school’s logo, name or insignia.

In a further effort to ensure impartiality, the Snoopy characters who roam the park will be wearing USC and Northwestern sweatshirts.

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Wildcat Invasion

Newport Beach businesses expect to reap more than $5 million from hosting members of the Northwestern University Alumni Assn., which has chosen the city as its official Rose Bowl headquarters. Approximately 5,000 alumni are expected. Estimated average daily expenditures, per person:

Hotel: $100

Food: 44

Entertainment: 20

Souvenirs, gifts, other retail items: 16

Transportation: 8

Other: 12

TOTAL: 200

Source: Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau