Title
Phoenix Convention Center Booking Update
Description
This report provides an update to the Economic Development and Housing Subcommittee on booking activities at the Phoenix Convention Center.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
Calendar year 2023 served as confirmation that the Phoenix Convention Center & Venues (PCC) has returned to pre-pandemic levels of citywide convention activity. In the five years prior to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, the PCC hosted an average of 67 citywide conventions per year. These conventions welcomed an annual average of 245,000 attendees and 312,000 hotel room nights. This activity generated an estimated $1.7 billion of direct spending from 2015 through 2019. As a result of the pandemic, restrictions were implemented for large gatherings across the country impacting the ability of meeting planners and associations to hold conventions and trade shows. Activity at the PCC was adversely impacted significantly as all performance metrics were diminished by as much as 72 percent in 2020 and 55 percent in 2021. Since that time, the PCC sales team along with Visit Phoenix have been working aggressively to market and contract citywide convention business impacted by the pandemic.
Beginning in 2022 and continuing through 2023, the PCC has recovered by hosting an average of 65 citywide conventions. The 294,374 attendees in 2023 marks the highest number of convention delegates since the PCC’s first year after completion of the expansion in 2009. Momentum is expected to continue as the projected convention hotel room nights over the next eight years are 14 percent ahead of pace. The attendee numbers for 2024 are projected to surpass 2023. Lead volume continues to be high with an increase in corporate and association interest in Phoenix as a destination.
January 2024 brought more than 40,000 visitors to the PCC. Groups included the Society for Critical Care Medicine, the 2024 Kawasaki Dealer Meeting, and Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s Annual Conference and Trade Show, who held their event in Phoenix for the first time since 1987. Groups such as the American Heart Association, International Franchise Association and the Society for Mining Metallurgy and Exploration will each bring more than 4,000 attendees to the PCC in the first quarter of the year. The PCC is projected to welcome more than 300,000 attendees and 340,000 hotel room nights in 2024, surpassing the pre-pandemic five-year average, further validating strong market demand for Phoenix as a destination.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager John Chan and the Phoenix Convention Center Department.