By Stephanie Rebman – Editor-in-Chief, Birmingham Business Journal
Feb 24, 2023
Ten thousand visitors were in Birmingham throughout a weekend earlier in February.
It was for Kami-Con, Alabama’s largest anime and gaming convention. While that most likely was not on local executives’ radars, it was projected to generate more than $1 million in economic impact.
Conventions like this are big business for Birmingham and help us sell our community as not just a livable but also a desirable place to live and flourish … and to have fun.
According to the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, the largest conventions in the region are for medical groups, faith-based organizations, state/regional/national associations, local corporations, social groups, reunions, federal government, federal trainings and from youth, college and amateur sporting events.
These trade shows and conventions are also growing for the Birmingham region.
In 2022, the GBCVB sourced and serviced 732 groups, which is classified as those needing 20 or more hotel rooms per night. That resulted in over 377,000 hotel room nights for local hotels, 1.48 million in attendance, and $307 million in economic impact for the greater Birmingham area………