Two stories (Triangle Business Journal & WRAL-TV) in the local media tell a “good news”/bad news story about the Raleigh Convention Center. I put “good news” in qoutation marks because the good news is not as good as it appears. Both stories give the attendance figures as proof that the center is “exceeding” expectations. In the WRAL story, sales and marketing director Laurie Okun said “The facility was not designed to make a profit. The facility was built to put heads in beds,” Okun said. “We delivered on the hype.”
Actually it is more hype than substance. The numbers below, provided by the convention center, show that almost 25% of the attendance was the result of local high school graduations. These would have happened without the convention center. In the “old days” mine was held in the football stadium with which every high school in Wake County is amply supplied. Not many “heads in beds” resulted from these.
| Raleigh Convention Center – Actual 9/5/08-6/30/09 | |
| Number of Events | |
| Conventions | 43 |
| Conventions with tradeshows | 7 |
| Public Show & Exhibitions, Trade/Consumer Shows | 17 |
| Meetings, Board Meetings & Planning Mtg | 100 |
| Banquets, Banquet/Reception & Reception | 57 |
| Assemblies, Ceremony, Graduations | 12 |
| Competitions | 3 |
| Miscellaneous, Political Events & Press Conferences | 4 |
| Number of Events | 243 |
| Total Attendance | |
| Conventions | 38,195 |
| Conventions with tradeshows | 17,350 |
| Public Show & Exhibitions, Trade/Consumer Shows | 142,968 |
| Meetings, Board Meetings & Planning Mtg | 11,850 |
| Banquets, Banquet/Reception & Reception | 31,504 |
| Assemblies, Ceremony, Graduations | 82,235 |
| Competitions | 6,500 |
| Miscellaneous, Political Events & Press Conferences | 1,225 |
| Total Attendance | 331,827 |
On the bad news front is the continuing drain on local taxpayers to subsidize the convention center. While the advocates talk about how the center is “funded” by hotel/motel and meals taxes they never talk about how those taxes mean less money is available for visitors to spend with local merchants. They also always gloss over the fact that locals pay the higher food tax every time they eat out at the local fast food joint or the taxpayer subsidized “Mint” restaurant downtown.
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