After getting off to a slow start, during which it incurred the wrath of Rhode Island taxpayers, the state-subsidized Rhode Island Convention Center appears to be hitting its stride. Bookings – and revenues – are up. The Rhode Island Convention Center Authority’s un-audited year-end report for fiscal year 1999 shows that the Convention Center generated a revenue increase of 28 percent, with net operating results improving by 5 percent.
The Westin Providence produced about $2.2 million in new operating revenue, up 11 percent from the preceding year, a resulting net increase of 18 percent. RICCA’s 2,500 space parking facility increased revenues $800,000.
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”Our year-end figures reflect a steady improvement in the performance of the Convention Center Complex,” said James Bennett, RICCA’s chairman.
The Convention Center’s surge in business does not come as a surprise to industry insiders. In fact, the industry’s growth has been a national trend for the 1990s. Take, for example, a four-year-old study commissioned by Chicago-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research and conducted by Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group. The study measured the economic impact of the U.S. exhibition industry. Among its findings;
In 1994, the exhibition, convention, meeting and incentive travel industry generated an estimated $82.8 billion in direct spending. The direct spending supported an estimated 1.6 million full-time jobs in the national economy and produced an estimated $12.3 billion in tax revenues at the federal, state and local levels.
A prior study estimated direct spending for the industry for 1991 at $75.6 billion. This study estimated that the direct spending supported 1.5 million full time jobs in the national economy in 1991 and produced an estimated $10.5 billion in tax revenues at the federal state and local levels.
Comparisons of the two studies show that the exhibition, convention, meeting and incentive travel industry’s direct spending grew 9.5 percent from 1991 to 1994. Over the same three-year period, industry employment is estimated to have grown by 2 percent and tax revenues are estimated to have grown by 17 percent.
A common measurement of performance of the national economy, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within the country in a given time period.
The direct spending related to exhibitions, conventions, meeting and incentive travel was used to approximate this industry’s contribution to the GDP. Considered as a single industry, it ranks 22nd among all U.S. private sector industries, as defined by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The top five industries are real estate, retail trade, wholesale trade, health services and business services.
In the mid-1990s, according to the study, the estimated direct spending of exhibitions and conventions was $16.6 billion or 25 percent of the hotel industry’s annual operating revenue.
In Rhode Island, the industry numbers are growing rapidly. Tourism is the state’s fastest growing industry – surpassing $2 billion in revenues last year.
This year, the Providence/Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau has booked 39 conventions and meetings for the Convention Center with a substantial increase in projected room nights and net square footage of exhibit space.
The PWCVB, which began marketing the Convention Center in 1996, has just launched a campaign and partnership with Hasbro and is building on the momentum of recent bookings such as the Fraternal Order of Police and the Gravity Games.
RICCA owns the Rhode Island Convention Center Complex, which includes the Convention Center, the 364-room Westin Hotel and a 2,500 space parking garage. The PWCVB markets the Convention Center for long-term conventions, trade shows and meetings that are booked 18 months or more in advance.
Landing the Fraternal Order of Police 56th National Convention for August 3 through 8, 2003 at the Convention Center was a major coup for the state. The F.O.P. Convention will be the largest ever to meet at the Convention Center, bringing in an estimated 10,000 attendees, including 4,000 police delegates and 6,000 additional F.O.P. staff members, exhibitors, and family members. Providence beat out Las Vegas in securing the convention.
To date, the largest conventions at the Rhode Island Convention Center have been;
Women’s Aglow National Convention in October 1996 – 6,000 attendees, 7,000 total room nights.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in November 1996 – 4,300 attendees, 2,400 total room nights.
United Church of Christ in July 1999 – 3,000 attendees, 7,660 total room nights.
Train Collectors Association in June 1998 – 3,000 attendees, 3,080 total room nights.
American Association for Artificial Intelligence in July 1997 – 1,800 attendees, 2,400 total room nights.
American Rental Association in October 1997 – 1,300 attendees, 5,880 total room nights.
American Association of College & University Housing Officers in July 1996 – 1,300 attendees, 3,215 total room nights.
