Executive Summary of the Consultant: Recommendations to the Mayor’s Office
My mission
Conventions are influential businesses that significantly contribute to city development and tourism. I promote rejuvenating the ailing downtowns and consider working from real market information, making the process transparent and valid, involving the public, changing federal oversight and regulation, and making other policy choices.
The Company and Management
Our consulting company aims at meeting the target goal of convention integration. This implies a “richer attendee experience with more opportunities for organic networking,” as well as the exchange of knowledge between local and visiting industry leaders (Deventer & Harper, 2017, p. 34).
My Recommendations
A good strategy must meet the key satisfactory factors identified by tourists. These include physical attributes, accessibility, staff and service, a function of facilities, entertainment options, safety and security, external environment, convenience, variability, and cost (Boo & Kim, 2019). However, such an economic development strategy tends to fail and has little potential of succeeding in most.
Financial Considerations
I need to draw your attention to the risk of weak performance outcomes, such as “underutilized center, falling attendance, an absence of promised private investment nearby” (Sanders, 2005, p. 21). For instance, Portland’s trade hall lost $17 million because of the small size of the center. The regional government offered $82 million for the expansion that was completed in 2003 with eco-friendly touches.
Start-Up Financing Requirements
The investment in a new convention center involves more than just a facility itself. It is accompanied by a subsidized or publicly-owned hotel, a new sports venue, an entertainment facility, a new cultural center, or a destination museum. As such, hundreds of millions of dollars from government funding are used for building the center considering further operating deficits.
The Construction of the New Convention Center: Final Decision
Many cities in the United States keep investing lots of public money in the quest for convention center success.
They are readjusting their downtown cores as innovation districts to improve the connection of their “high-tech and creative industries, research institutions, cultural venues, and convention center districts” (Deventer & Harper, 2017, p. 33).
The traditional convention center package is developing to cover a broader spectrum of innovative businesses to spread attendees throughout different parts of the city. Apart from the cities that dominated the national and regional economies, the big expectations of convention center investments are unlikely to be implemented since their strategy often tends to fail.
As a city mayor, I emphasize the need to pursue the improvement of the systems that drive these innovative decisions to yield better results for our city and its residents. I think it is important to point out the case with government stadium financing in Birmingham. As reported by Carden (2014), despite the increase in the visitors’ inflow and the money spending, will not create new economic activity; it will only lead to redistribution.
Carden (2014) suggests that for a stadium or arena to be a successful investment, the team owners should build it themselves, instead of using taxpayer money from the government. Murphy (2005) states that shows are generally far less relevant, since consolidation in manufacturing, retail and technology decreased a pool of exhibitors.
By considering these risk outcomes, I concluded that there is no need to construct a new convention center, as it often proved to be a failing investment with few successful exceptions. I would suggest modifying the existing facilities into a convention center and designing a new plan accordingly.
References
Boo, S., & Kim, M. (2019). Tourists’ online reviews of convention centers. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 20(2), 135-162. Web.
Carden, A. (2014). Why Birmingham shouldn’t build a new arena. Bizjournals. Web.
Deventer, P., & Harper R. (2017). Defining conventions as urban innovation and economic accelerators (pp. 1-68). SKIFT Report.
Murphy, V. (2005). The Answer Is Always Yes. Forbes. Web.
Sanders, H. (2005). Space available: The realities of convention centers as an economic development strategy. The Brookings Institution.