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The San Diego Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC) is reporting one of its most successful years ever, achieving all-time highs in such key indicators as total economic impact, direct attendee spending, total attendance and total hotel room nights for fiscal year 2007 which ended June 30, 2007.
“The city wisely invested in the expansion of the Convention Center in 2001 which continues to pay off handsomely for all San Diegans,” said Cheryl Kendrick, SDCCC Board Chair.
FY07 accomplishments, which occurred between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007, include a record-breaking $1.56 billion in regional economic impact, up from $1.07 billion in FY06. It also marks the first time in the Convention Center’s 18-year history that economic impact has surpassed the one and a half billion dollar mark.
Economic impact represents the total value of events held at the Center, including the direct spending and indirect spending generated by each event. Direct attendee spending surpassed the $650 million mark.
Total attendance of 983,706 broke all previous records with primary business soaring to an all-time high of 617,089 attendees. Primary business, including conventions, tradeshows and corporate/incentive meetings, generates the most significant economic benefits for the San Diego region due to the large number of out-of-town visitors these events attract.
“It’s part of the corporation’s mission to generate economic benefits and tax revenues to alleviate the tax burden on local taxpayers. We generated more than $140 million in hotel room tax and sales revenues since the expansion, which the city uses to pay for services like police protection, park and beach maintenance, museums and other necessary services that improve the quality of life for all San Diegans,” said SDCCC President and CEO Carol Wallace.
Total hotel room nights soared to its highest level yet. There were 738,758 room nights booked in FY07 compared to 646,184 the previous fiscal year. Hotel room nights represents the total number of rooms multiplied by the number of nights each room is occupied.
This increase of nearly 100,000 room nights is particularly impressive considering attendees are increasingly booking outside the official room block due to discounted travel web sites and online hotel loyalty programs. So the number of total hotel room nights could actually be much higher if these undercounted rooms were also factored in.
Since the expansion opened in 2001, the Convention Center’s total occupancy rate also reached an all-time high 74.2% continuing to outpace the national average for similar size facilities set at 44.4%. Market demand continues to grow for San Diego’s bayside facility indicating an expansion is necessary to accommodate existing business outgrowing the building and potential new clients. Industry standards consider anything over 70% past the “practical maximum occupancy range.” No building ever reaches 100% due to brief closures for maintenance, holidays and the difficulty of booking back-to-back events due to the variance of event days, as well as move-in and move-out schedules.
“Given the stunning success of the expansion and the enormous return on investment it’s providing, we should begin to address plans for an additional expansion to ensure we have the space to keep our current clients as they grow, to bring in new business and tax revenues to San Diego,” added Wallace.
The San Diego Convention Center Corporation is a public benefit corporation created by the City of San Diego. The Corporation is exclusively responsible for marketing, managing and operating the Convention Center. In its 18-year history, the Center has generated nearly $13 billion in economic impact, over $270 million in tax revenues and continues to serve as San Diego’s premier gathering place.
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