Page 130 - The Jazzsipper Novel

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THE JAZZ SIPPER

the growing success of annual events as well as the recent addition of several
national conventions has solidified Atlanta’s reputation as the premier meeting
destination for African-Americans. African-American meetings and events in
Atlanta will account for more than 320,000 visitors and a $264.5 million
economic impact on the city that summer alone in which half of that is spent
with the street vendors. It was a no brainier for her and Vance, they began
working on their proposal with the affirmation it was theirs to lose. But what
took it to a another whole level was the article Vance read inside of the Black
Enterprise magazine a couple of days later, the article was talking about how
Black organizations and groups could leverage their conference dollars better,
It estimated 1,600 Black Conventions and Conferences with an economic
impact of $5.6 billion in the U.S., up from 1,500 such events the year before,
where $4.9 billion was spent, according to Black Meetings and Tourism
magazine, which tracks the black travel industry. And those numbers were
conservative because they only included what was spent on things like hotels,
food, and shopping. Not, other expenses like airline travel. Those numbers
also did not include the additional dollars spent at events and retreats where
overnight stays are not required. The millions of dollars African Americans
spend on shopping, dining, and partying were also not recorded. African
American conventions can range in size from 25 - 30 attendees, to 25,000 -
35,000 participants or more. The average attendance at black conventions is
about 300. The average delegate, including those at black conventions
spends about $814 per event, up from $785 the year before. This was
according to the International Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus, a
Washington, D.C. - based trade group. In addition, the $80-billion-a-year
hospitality industry gets a hefty $6 billion to $8 billion from African American
conventions, one of its fastest growing segments. Vance and Regina came