Visitors take advantage of a public skate in August at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township. The new facility has already hosted one major hockey tournament and another is scheduled next week.

CRANBERRY TWP — The UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex is off to a strong start attracting visitors to hotels in Butler County.

The Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau on Thursday morning received some preliminary numbers about the complex’s impact on the hotel industry.

The complex, which opened in mid-August, has had one major tournament, the MidAm USA Hockey Mite Kick-off Jamboree.

Another large one is taking place next week. On Nov. 27-29 the complex will host the Pittsburgh Girls Thanksgiving Classic.

In 2014, that event had 45 of the 66 teams from out of the area, which included from Canada, New Jersey, Michigan, New York and Wisconsin, according to the Penguins Rinks website.

There also will be a Midwinter Classic Tournament.

Amy Pack, director of tourism development, said these three tournaments will generate roughly 2,000 room nights for hotels, which is about $230,000.

The Thanksgiving Classic is set at 720 rooms, Pack said. The Midwinter Classic participants are still booking rooms with 782 rooms reserved so far.

“The numbers are very strong and this is just the tournament end, so other business comes in with that as well,” Pack said.

Jack Cohen, president of tourism bureau, said there are other teams coming here to play and are staying in the hotels without being connected to a tournament.

“Folks from as far away as Wisconsin are coming to play on this ice,” Cohen said. “So as they do that, they stay in our hotels as well ... These are add-ons that are wonderful for us to get.”

Cohen said in August that the Penguins officials said they expect 400,000 people a year.

There also is another possible tournament for 2016, Pack said. If that does come, it would have 2,000 room nights.

Pack said she will know next month if that tournament will come here.

There already are plans for a few more tournaments, according to the Penguins Rinks website.

From Dec. 27-30, the complex is hosting GRIT, Game Ready Intensive Tournament. Then there will be a New Year’s Jamboree at Penguins Rinks Jan. 2-3.

Sometime in the winter of 2016 there will be the Penguins Adult Hockey Classic.