ST. LOUIS — Conventions and group meetings are returning in a big way in 2022.
Each year, Explore St. Louis, the region's tourism agency, provides the St. Louis Business Journal with data projecting key figures for the events booked in the coming year at the America's Center Convention Complex, including hotel room nights booked, projected attendance and projected direct spending. Though estimates, the figures give insight into the economic impact that each event will have on the city.
The big story this year: dramatic increases in projected direct spending.
Direct spending projections outline the dollar amount that event attendees will spend while in St. Louis. From 2019 — the last "normal" year of events — to 2022, projected direct spending increased 52%, from $156 million to $239 million, the largest recorded projection for direct spending since at least 2014 when the Business Journal began recording this data.
This growth is partially due to the introduction of two new events with large direct spending projections: the Seventh Day Adventists General Conference Session with $55.7 million in direct spending, and the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine Annual Imperial Convention with $18.8 million in direct spending.
To read the full article, head to the St. Louis Business Journal's website.
