Today marks the 20th anniversary of the 2.6 million square foot San Diego Convention Center. When the Convention Center opened twenty years ago, it was with the promise that it would generate significant economic benefits for the greater San Diego region. Since then, it has fulfilled that promise becoming one of North America’s leading convention facilities and the epicenter of San Diego’s successful convention and meeting industry. In the last two decades, it has generated: · $7.5 billion in direct delegate spending · $359.3 million in tax revenues · 11,018,580 hotel room nights · 15 million guests · 4,348 events "Twenty years ago city leaders and San Diegans had a vision for a bayside convention center that would attract visitors from around the world and bring significant economic benefits to the entire community. The Convention Center has proven to be a wise city investment and has exceeded all expectations," said Chris Cramer, chair of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation board of directors. Today, the Convention Center continues to reliably produce significant tax revenues. From North County to South Bay and from East County to the coastal communities, the tax dollars it generates filter into San Diego’s neighborhoods to help pay for libraries, police protection, street maintenance and other vital city services. The bayside facility also supports 12,000 jobs countywide and attracts hundreds of thousands of overnight convention visitors keeping local hotels occupied. "I’m proud of our accomplishments and our award-winning staff. I believe the Convention Center’s success reflects our employee’s commitment to service excellence and the strong support we’ve received from our local hospitality partners," said Carol Wallace, president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation. Downtown redevelopment has also flourished around the Convention Center. The Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, Columbia, Marina and East Village neighborhoods have been transformed from the blighted downtown of 20 years ago into a dynamic urban hub with the addition of PETCO Park, premier hotels, restaurants, retail shops, attractions and entertainment, serving both visitors and locals. Through the years, the Convention Center has enjoyed high occupancy levels. In its first year of operation, industry experts predicted it would be lucky to attract 15 conventions and one consumer show, but were proven wrong when the building hosted over 50 conventions and trade shows and 17 consumer shows. Market demand continued to increase necessitating a highly successful expansion opened in September 2001. The project roughly doubled the size of the facility to its current square footage. One of the first major events hosted was the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in November 2001. Despite lingering effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a record-breaking 28,600 delegates turned out, making it the Society’s most attended annual meeting at the time. The convention drawing the largest crowd to date is San Diego Comic-Con International, with upward of 126,000 attendees, held in July 2009. The convention generating the largest economic impact for the region, $133 million, was the Society for Neuroscience when they returned to San Diego in November 2007. The San Diego Convention Center Corporation is a public benefit corporation created by the city of San Diego to exclusively market, manage and operate the 2.6 million sf waterfront facility. ###
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