CLEVELAND — Just a couple months away from the first of five big events coming to Cleveland in 2024, organizations are preparing to host the most visitors the city has seen since before the pandemic.
At the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, that preparation involves construction on a $49 million renovation project that’s been in the works for months.
“Convention centers exist as an economic magnet,” said general manager Ron King. “We feel like it’s going to be the wave of the future for convention centers.”
King said the project will add state of the art meeting suites, an atrium ballroom and a rooftop terrace. Construction is expected to wrap up in June, in time for the Pan-American Masters Games in July and the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) convention in August.
“[The ASAE] is akin to the Super Bowl of meetings. So, we’ll have meeting planners from all over the world here in Cleveland, checking out the convention center in our city to see if they want to bring meetings here in the future,” King said.
“We want them to have an amazing experience in Cleveland to inspire them to come back,” Emily Lauer said.
Lauer is the vice president of communications for Destination Cleveland, a nonprofit marketing and management organization for Cuyahoga County, with the goal of helping people discover Cleveland.
She said the ASAE Convention and the Pan-American Masters Games are two of five big events coming to the city this year, making it one of the biggest years for events in a couple of decades. The other events include the NCAA Women’s Final Four and the solar eclipse, both coming in April, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this fall.
“We looked at last year as the year to get ready for this year,” Lauer said.
In 2019, Lauer said Cleveland was home to 19.6 million visitors. The goal was to get to 20 million by 2020, until the pandemic hit. She doesn’t know whether we’ll get to that mark this year, but it is certainly expected to be the most visitors since 2019. The hope is that success this year will lead to many more events and visits in the future for Cleveland.
You have great meals, have fun at the event and then you say, ‘Hm. I think I might want to go back to Cleveland, get to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, get out to University Circle,'” she said.
To prepare, Lauer said hotels in the area are on “a recruitment push” to get back to pre-pandemic staffing levels. A hiring event for hotels is scheduled in February.
It’s an important effort, Lauer said, since a visitor’s first impression of the city is often a hotel.
Huntington Convention Center reported meetings and events at the center had an economic impact of more than $102 million in 2023, compared to $186 million in 2019. As construction at the center continues, King is looking ahead to the difference he says it will make not only for 2024, but for years to come.
“2019 was just a fantastic record for us for several reasons. But this will get us back on track moving forward into the future,” he said.
Related Stories:
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport welcomes nearly 9.9 million passengers in 2023, continuing recovery from pandemic
- Where to find solar eclipse glasses before April 8: Cleveland Metroparks, Destination Cleveland selling local designs as NASA Glenn sells out
- Cleveland will host 2025 National Urban League Conference
- 24 in 2024! The list of events in Northeast Ohio you need to check off in the new year