Since its June 19 opening, the Lancaster County Convention Center has booked $265,180 worth of sales revenue for the fiscal year. While this figure is, in fact, only 65% of the $403,935 projected in the convention center’s marketing plan, the center has only operated for 67% of the time originally projected in that plan. According to Kevin Fry, Chair of the Public Relations, Marketing & Hospitality Committee, “Revenue-wise, we are where we expect to be.”
Mark Moosic, general manager for Interstate Hotels, further reported that revenue for the month of September exceeded projections by about $15,000.
While the total revenue stream moved according to plan, the number of booked events turned in mixed results:
- Whereas five trade shows were projected, six have been booked.
- Whereas eleven consumer shows were projected, nine (81%) have been booked.
- Whereas fifty-two “other” events were projected, sixteen (30%) have been booked.
According to Moosic, the shortfall in “other” events came largely as a result of the opening delay: “Once we had the delay, we had very little opportunity to book much new business for the next six or seven months of the year. So, future bookings were strong, but short-term bookings were stalled for us.”
Moosic noted that, during the delay, the convention center managed to cut opening and operating expenses to such a degree that the center stands $114,000 “in the good” on its bottom line.
Board member R.B. Campbell bluntly reiterated this fact: “I think its common for the public to kind of scratch their head, because, with typical business enterprises, they’re projecting a profit. With this convention center, there is a projected operating loss. That’s the nature of what it is. So, because of the delay, you’re actually reducing the operating loss.”
Moosic and Fry both asserted that, with time and good marketing, this dynamic should ultimately improve: “Often times,” Fry said, “a [client] will commit to several years in a row….And we don’t have the benefit of that. But we will have the benefit of that as things continue to go on.”
Actually, I think it is common for the public to kind of scratch their heads when they get this much spin and double-talk from board members and management.
I truly do not believe this has been spun in comparison to past regimes. The value of exceeding the projection in trade shows far outweighs the miss in “other events” due to the revenue differential between the two as presented during the past marketing committee meetings. A bottom line improvement of $114,000 cited by Mr. Moosic represents a 19% reduction in the scheduled operations loss of $612,000 as budgeted in the stub year for the convention center. As a concerned tax payer, I am feeling a tad bit better.