RALEIGH, N.C. — The CIAA basketball tournament is getting under way in Raleigh. Now, city officials want to keep the tournament in the area for the long haul.

Officials said the tournament brought $860,000 in hotel, meals and sales tax revenue last year in Raleigh. Officials said the tournament's total economic impact is said to be worth $10.2 million.

"That's why they [city officials] set up the hotel, food and beverage tax -- to pull in these types of activities to generate dollars back into the cash registers and back into the economy," assistant city manager Lawrence Wray said.

Wray said the tournament is worth staying in Raleigh. The tournament raises scholarship money for the nation's oldest African-American athletic conference.

The tournament has been in Raleigh for the past five years and will return in 2005, but the bidding process for the next host city begins in the summer. Charlotte is expected to offer a competitive package in hopes of luring the tournament to the Queen City.