“WaterFire” blazes into the night. “We absolutely do feel that there will be an impact,” says Rhode Island tourism director Mark Brodeur. Hopefully, they’ll have a very positive experience and think about coming back here again on vacation.”

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

PROVIDENCE — Ohio University fan Josh Stegman was up early Friday morning after his beloved Bobcats sent Georgetown bundling out of the NCAA Tournament the night before.

His wife had to fly home to Columbus, Ohio, by the weekend for her job at a restaurant, so after getting her off to the airport, Stegman was left alone in Providence to figure out what to do on the day off between the games Thursday and Ohio’s second-round matchup against Tennessee on Saturday.

By 10 a.m., while other tournament-goers were still in bed recovering from their celebrations, Stegman had set out on a guided walking tour of Providence, eager to learn a little about the city hosting his team’s games. As he stood in Kennedy Plaza and a tour guide described City Hall’s Second Empire design, he observed Providence coming to life around him and commented on the impact of the tournament on the local economy.

“It’s amazing what a difference a few thousand people can make,” the 29-year-old high school math teacher said.

Local tourism officials have been saying the same thing since thousands of people started pouring into Providence earlier this week for college basketball’s showcase event. They say the tournament will bring much-needed out-of-state money into the area’s struggling economy.

“We absolutely do feel that there will be an impact,” said Rhode Island tourism director Mark Brodeur. “Hopefully, they’ll have a very positive experience and think about coming back here again on vacation.”

The down day on Friday was a challenge for Brodeur and his colleagues. It was a chance to show off the city and the rest of the state and make a positive impression on the new visitors.

They got an unexpected lift from near-perfect weather for March, blue skies and temperatures close to 70 degrees. For some, the day included trips around Providence, up to Federal Hill and Benefit Street. Others went farther afield to South County and Newport. At the Newport visitor’s center, 1,200 people were counted by 1:30 p.m., compared with 300 to 400 on a typical Friday in March.

Conway Tours, of Cumberland, offered special bus trips to Newport and Boston along with their regularly scheduled early-morning service to Foxwoods Resort and Casino. The company also partnered with the Rhode Island Historical Society to showcase Providence through the walking tours.

“We’re trying to enhance the experience of people coming to Providence for the first time,” said Christine Rice, director of convention sales for Conway. “Maybe they’re coming for only a few days, and they want to see a little more.”

Kristen Adamo, of the Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau, walked around the city in the morning. Despite the exit of Georgetown and the departure of its large contingent of fans, she said Providence was still noticeably busier than usual.

“We’re feeling pretty good about things,” said Adamo, vice president for marketing and communications.

And at least one hotel was trying to attract more fans of the remaining teams in the city to fill rooms that emptied Friday. After the first-round loss of Richmond — whose players and officials had been staying at the Providence Downtown Marriott — the hotel reached out to people in Ohio and elsewhere.

“We did pick up a little bit of business,” said Jennifer Dahler, the hotel’s destination and online marketing manager.

Stegman, the Ohio University supporter, planned to follow the walk through Providence with an afternoon in Boston to see Fenway Park. He was joined on the Providence tour by 19 others — about half of them here for the tournament and the other half Rhode Islanders wanting to learn more about their capital city. More people came than expected. They were broken into two groups.

“We’re delighted to have you here,” said Barbara Barnes, one of the day’s guides and the tourism services director at the R.I. Historical Society. “We think you’ll be absolutely dazzled.”

The groups set out from the R.I. Convention Center, passing the Providence Biltmore hotel, before walking down Westminster Street, crossing Memorial Boulevard and finishing up at Waterplace Park.

Steve Hart, of Washington, D.C., and his sister, Amelia Hart, of Fernandina Beach, Fla., came up for the tournament and went on the tour. They said they were impressed by the historical buildings that had been preserved in Providence. A legislative affairs staffer for the U.S. Forest Service, Steve Hart compared the city to places he regularly visits out west like Phoenix, Ariz., or Albuquerque, N.M.

“This is different,” he said. “It’s got history.”

As they spoke, volunteers behind them set up the braziers for a partial lighting in the evening of “WaterFire,” a signature city event that officials were counting on to draw people into downtown restaurants for dinner and drinks.

The plan appeared to work.

Joe Long of Hadley, Mass., is part of a group of 13 men who have made it a point of visiting an NCAA Tournament city for each of the last 23 years. They had planned to spend the day in Newport but decided to stay around in Providence to see “WaterFire.”

“It’s cool, unbelievable,” said another member of the group, Christ Dostal of South Deerfield, Mass., as he watched the fire cast its hypnotic glow on the visitors to Waterplace basin. Ian Grosse said that with the accompanying music, he thought he had walked into a scene from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Mike Pancione and George Mount said he and others in the group were so impressed with the friendliness and cleanliness of the city they’d like to come and visit with their wives.

Earlier Friday, the group had spent much of their time visiting “lots of historic sites,” according to Long, including such spots as Murphy’s Irish Pub and Trinity Brew Pub.

“The last time we were here, I think, was 1987. It was not as friendly then. It was much grittier.”

Darlene and Ken Richter, who came up from Harrisburg, Pa., to cheer on Villanova, set out Friday from the Biltmore to visit Newport, where they ate and took a stroll on Cliff Walk, before returning to see “WaterFire.” Darlene said she was impressed. “Harrisburg is also a city on the river, but it doesn’t have anything like this.”

Ken said he was equally struck. “I’ve been to six Final Four cities, and I have to say that this is as good as, if not better, than those. It’s probably the nicest.”

Planning to be in the crowd at “WaterFire” were John and Deb Provost, a couple from Billerica, Mass., who went on the walking tour earlier in the day. Diehard college hoops fans, they had driven through Providence, but had never spent any time in the city before the basketball tournament. Fulfilling the wishes of tourism officials, they were so happy with what they had seen that they’d like to come again.

“We want to make a special trip just to see the town,” John Provost said.

With reports from

RICHARD C. DUJARDIN

akuffner@projo.com