Conventional wisdom

Business-related travel and events are slowly making a comeback in the post-pandemic era.

In 2022, visitors to Virginia spent $30.3 billion in the commonwealth, exceeding 2019 spending by 4%. Of that spending, $4.8 billion was from business travelers, says Dan Roberts, vice president of research and strategy for Virginia Tourism Corp.

While none of the associations and experts Virginia Business contacted for this story had specific statewide economic impact figures associated with just conferences and conventions, they say that conference and convention activity is trending toward pre-pandemic levels and could eventually outpace it.

“We have seen a rebound in conferences and meetings at hotels,” says Eric Terry, president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association. “By far, corporate meetings spend the greatest amount per meeting, followed by professional organizations. We are hopeful that this rebound will continue as more and more companies bring their people back into the office.”

Vinod Agarwal, an economics professor and deputy director of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis, says it is challenging to determine the true economic impact of business travel, because some conference and convention attendees are local residents or people from other parts of Virginia, as opposed to visitors from other states or countries.

“If only the local guys are coming for the meeting, the conference’s economic impact is different from [having outside attendees],” Agarwal says. “How many people actually come from out of town? Or out of the area? That number is relatively small. But if you want to get tourists or visitors from outside [who are] spending money, that is extra stimulus.”

Anecdotally, Dean Miller, the national sales manager of groups and meetings for Visit Fairfax, the county’s convention and visitors bureau, says he’s never been busier in the 18 years he’s been with the organization. In Fairfax County, “the demand is just off the charts right now” for conventions and conferences, he says.

Indeed, weeknight demand throughout 2023 has been a “source of strength for Virginia,” Roberts adds.

“Despite the steep hill that business travel still has to climb, we are optimistic on its recovery path,” he says. “Our highest hotel occupancies in recent months have been posted on weeknights in markets catering to business travelers, such as Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria, which we see as a normalization pattern as business travel recovers.”

Fairfax represents a more affordable option compared with Washington, D.C., so meetings and conventions for trade associations, medical societies, scientific specialty societies and “groups like that,” Miller says, are increasingly coming to Fairfax.

“I think part of that is that you have incredible demand, and as a result, the prices of hotels in downtown Washington — and even the [return on investment] — is through the roof,” he adds. “A lot of groups, I think, are looking at the rates down there and saying, ‘Holy cow, maybe we will go to Fairfax to save a few dollars.’”

Guest room rates are lower, taxes are lower and catering costs are lower in Fairfax than in D.C. — as well as overnight parking rates, Miller says. What’s also made Fairfax County an even more popular destination for conventions is the opening of the Metro stop at Washington Dulles International Airport. That station is set to hit its 1 millionth passenger this fall, according to Visit Fairfax.

When looking more closely at the economic impact of conferences, conventions and major meetings across the state, visitor spending can vary according to event type. In Fairfax County, spending associated with attendance at professional conventions, conferences and meetings tends to have the greatest impact.

According to a business travel profile produced for VTC by Longwoods International, the average business traveler to Virginia spent $886 in 2022, and spent just below four nights in a hotel. About 27% of all business travelers came here for conferences or conventions. Meanwhile, leisure travelers last year spent an average $782 per person, staying 3.3 nights in the state.

Business vs. leisure

Of course, conventions are not all work. Sports and sci-fi fandom conventions like CSA Shows and GalaxyCon bring in visitors, as do more corporate events like the quantum computing-focused Quantum World Congress held Sept. 26-28 at Capital One Hall in Tysons.

“There’s some serious private money behind this,” Miller says of the Quantum World Congress, which drew about 1,000 people. “There’s some serious governmental money behind this. The people who understand this say that this technology today is about where the internet was in about 1988. This [conference] was a major coup for us to land. We would not have gotten in had we not had the hall, which is right next to a Metro stop … [with] Tysons’ hotel and restaurant infrastructure to support it.”

In Richmond, when comparing the economic impact of large events that draw crowds of 10,000 to 15,000 people, sports tournaments have the highest level of spending, says Jerrine Lee, vice president of sales for Richmond Region Tourism.

In the Richmond region, the USA Softball of Virginia Tournament and the Basketball Small College National Championships bring in many fans, with sports tourism overall accounting for 68% of the region’s group bookings, according to Richmond Region Tourism’s 2022 economic impact report.

Some sports fans also see family and friends or visit other attractions while attending tournaments. VTC reports that local spending for all tourism across the state was up by 21% last year.

When comparing a citywide convention, which requires simultaneous use of hotels, convention space and other venues, such as the Virginia Society of Association Executives’ Fall Conference and Expo, with a comic book, science fiction or film convention, citywide attendees will spend more on lodging — $400,000 versus $300,000. But fandom attendees spend more on food and beverages — $420,000 versus $270,000 — per event, Lee adds. That’s according to the Destinations International Event Impact calculator, which Richmond Region Tourism uses to “represent a conservative portrayal of the economic impact of events,” she says.

The 2022 economic impact report for RRT showed that meetings, conventions and tournaments brought in $113 million last year, with 309,383 estimated attendees.

Out in the Roanoke/New River Valley region, sports tourism generates great economic impact for Salem, says Carey Harveycutter, the city’s director of tourism. Overall, the economic impact each year for championship events in the Roanoke Valley runs between $1.05 million and $4 million, he adds. This includes the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) football championship hosted in November at the Salem Football Stadium, as well as the NCAA Division III men’s and women’s soccer championships. These tournaments can draw between 800 to 6,000 people, Harveycutter says.

“The impact [of those events] is on the whole Virginia’s Blue Ridge region,” he explains. Visitors will “come into town for two nights, stay in our hotels, in our restaurants and visit attractions.”