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Atlanta drawing African-American conventions
Atlanta is becoming a top destination for African-American conventions.
That’s been particularly evident in the past month as five conventions are packing the Georgia World Congress Center, says the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who says it is particularly good news.
“The Georgia World Congress Center, the nation’s fourth-largest convention facility, has had trouble filling its halls and reported a fiscal 2005 loss of $1.96 million,” said the newspaper.
Another blow earlier this year was the pullout of the National Association of Home Builders from Atlanta in 2006 and 2007. That was a loss estimated to be about $119 million annually.
By summer’s end, more than 320,000 African-Americans will have visited Atlanta for conventions.
Atlanta in the past was a major center of conventions, hosting large shows such as SuperComm, but the tech decline and 9-11 slowed business despite such lures as the center adding another 420,000 square feet of meeting space in 2003.
In reporting its most recent fiscal loss, convention center officials blamed it on soft parking revenues, the canceled National Hockey League season and big events that moved to the Georgia Dome and Centennial Olympic Park.
To lure black conventions, tourism officials have created promotional videos specifically designed for African-Americans and an Atlanta Web site for black visitors. Officials have also emphasized the city’s reputation as the cradle of the civil rights movement.
Report by David Wilkening
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