Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Market For Convention Facilities, Philipp Degens, M. Hossein Haeri, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Conventions, trade shows and meetings represent an industry of considerable size in the United States. In a 1984 survey, the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus estimated a total of 20.5 billion dollars of annual expenditure generated by 54.3 million delegates nationwide. Despite its economic importance, the industry has received little analytical attention in the literature on tourism. In this paper we develop and estimate a model of demand for metropolitan convention facilities. Our results suggest that metropolitan convention activity is sensitive to both cost and attraction-related factors.