Boston summer planning: World Cup, Tall Ships were economic boom

The city’s initial economic impact analysis from June 12-30, which Mayor Michelle Wu’s office announced Wednesday, also showed that restaurant spending increased 2 percent citywide and 15 percent in the downtown area in comparison to the same time period last year. Bar spending spiked even higher — up 27 percent citywide, and 86 percent higher downtown, compared to last year.

Coming off of that success, Wu convened a group of elected officials and community and business leaders Wednesday to brainstorm how to capitalize on that momentum and continue to boost economic activity and support for cultural organizations and small businesses across the city. One of the top recommendations: reinstating 3 a.m. last call and “social districts,” where outdoor food and alcohol consumption is allowed.

In early June, state lawmakers passed a law to give municipalities the option to allow public drinking in certain areas and extend last call for alcohol sales until 3 a.m. through the end of July. But Wu and other local business leaders are now pushing Beacon Hill to make those changes permanent, saying this summer demonstrated the policies’ many benefits to both businesses and neighborhoods.

More than 100 businesses opted to extend their hours out of the 211 businesses who were eligible to do so, and visits to the areas with social districts were up 40 to 60 percent compared to the same period last year, according to city data.

Making the policies permanent would also give cities and businesses more predictability, “not just for one summer, not just for one period of time, and then worry about whether it goes away again, but to plan for many many successful seasons of business and economic investment in the future,” Wu said Wednesday.

Not everyone is in favor of the idea. The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union, has spoken out against making the policies permanent, arguing it could lead to higher crime and violence rates.

“Not a lot of good happens after midnight,” the union wrote in a post on X in late June.

But Wu said the city did not see a surge in safety concerns or dangerous or reckless incidents while the policies were in place this summer. Other business leaders and restaurant and bar owners said they actually felt the policies increased safety by giving people more time to get home, and stagger their departures.

“This thing called fun is actually a tool to keep people here,” said Tito Jackson, former city councilor and founder of Apex Noire, a cannabis dispensary and rooftop lounge.

This summer proved Boston can implement these policies safely, he said. “We are a grown-up city … we should be able to do this,“ he said.

On Wednesday, Wu and the other community and business leaders celebrated the city and business community’s efforts to elevate and showcase the city’s diversity, engage small businesses, and coordinate celebrations and watch parties in neighborhoods all across Boston, thanks to the summer festivities.

The city hosted seven fan walks, 18 World Cup game watch parties, and a 16-day Fan Festival on City Hall Plaza, drawing thousands of attendees, Wu’s office said. The city also distributed $400,000 in privately funded grants to community groups and neighborhood organizations to throw other summer events.

Some leaders also recommended improvements to the way the city can plan for such events in the future, such as simplifying and streamlining permitting processes, and offering more support for small businesses to scale their operations ahead of large events.

The city could also begin conversations with small business owners of color even earlier in the event planning process, to ensure they have the opportunity to participate and benefit, said Collin Knight, founder and chief executive of Live Like A Local Tours Boston.

“There’s already a built-in infrastructure when we’re talking about the North End and Chinatown, tourism has been great there for many, many, many years,” Knight said. “When we’re talking about the percentages of dollars that were made, I’d love to compare that to the percentages that were made in these communities of color when we’re talking about local businesses.”

He also recommended that the city distribute grant funding to community organizations or small businesses farther in advance of such events, rather than reimbursing them after the fact.

Several leaders acknowledged the city will not be hosting an event of the same scale as the World Cup again next summer, but brainstormed how the city could try and replicate that energy and vibrancy through community and cultural events.

“People just want to be together, I think that’s what this summer showed us,” said Martha Sheridan, president and chief executive of Meet Boston.

Sheridan suggested that the city could organize a “summer of culture,” and coordinate events around all of Boston’s annual cultural festivals.

”Formalize an umbrella brand for, ‘Come to Boston in the summer of ’27; you loved us last summer, wait till you see what we have this summer,’” she said.

Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold.