Shopkeepers are criticizing promoters of the 10th annual Great Floridian Triathlon for not generating the customer traffic of past events and for paying only nominal fees to the city for use of public facilities. The promoters say they generated at least $1 million to the business community during last month's event and are paying their fair share of expenses associated with the triathlon.

At the root of the criticism is one indisputable factor: a lack of sufficient hotel rooms or restaurant seats to house and cater to 875 athletes and their families arriving from worldwide locations. The immediate Clermont area, from Four Corners to Ocoee, FL has about 1,000 hotel rooms. It could use double that number for the event. But Downtown Clermont itself doesn't have even 500 hotel rooms that would keep guests shopping and spending in the central business district.

The event needed a dining hall that could accommodate 1,200 guests for the event. Clermont doesn't have a restaurant or two that could house that number so the attraction's promoters moved festivities and athlete sign-ins from Downtown Clermont to the Summer Bay Resort on U.S. 191 outside the city. That move upset central business district retailers as well.