Tornadoes Will Suck Away Tourist Dollars
Rarely do the tornadoes actually come through a central city. Now that they have, the effects could be scary. We may be abandoned.
Amazingly, the death toll from the entire storm system seems to be two. However, the property damage is estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars.
A significant portion of this was suffered directly by the state as the Georgia Wold Congress Center was damaged. The good news is that they have already begun fixing the place. The bad news is that it will cost the state millions in tourist dollars and we’ll have to fight like hell to get them back.
When Katrina went through New Orleans, we benefited by picking up conferences that came here instead. Now, the Big Easy and other southern cities are going to ‘return the favor’. Getting that business back will not be easy. On top of a recession, this is not good.
Moreover, the number of buildings which need repair has led to a large swath of downtown being closed. This means that except for repairs, economic activity in much of downtown will grind to a halt.
There are two silver linings here. One is that construction workers will certainly be back in the economy. All across the state, the storm hit hard. Hail up to three inches destroyed cars and damaged buildings. Much of that will be covered by insurance, and one would think that Governor Perdue could get us some disaster funding here to help poorer folks pay for the rest.
The second silver lining is that with much of downtown closed to vehicular traffic, lots of people will be taking MARTA, which apparently was not effected. The more people who get in the habit of taking it, the better.
What can you do? First, donate to the Red Cross. Second, come this weekend, you can support the communities that were hit. Go see a show at Theatrical Outfit and eat downtown. Help the local economy get back on it’s feet.
March 18th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Are you kidding? By this weekend the mess will be cleaned up and windows will be replaced. Yes, there are some buildings that had extensive damage, but I doubt any conventions are pulling out of Atlanta. Downtown has reopened. This was not Katrina- this was a six mile by one mile section of a very large city. The aquarium is okay. The World of Coke is okay. Life goes on.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Your article is insane - this was not a major event for most of Atlanta. Comparing it to Katrina makes me practically wet my pants laughing.
Come on now.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Please know that no conventions at the Georgia World Congress Center have been lost. I have pasted an update below for your review.
Shows Begin Move In at the Georgia World Congress Center
ATLANTA – March 24, 2008 – International Window Coverings Expo, scheduled for March 26 through March 29, and National Propane Gas Association, March 29 through March 31, began to move their shows into the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) on Monday morning. The two events will bring a combined impact of nearly $14 million in direct spending to Atlanta.
The move in marks the opening of the entire GWCC campus, which closed for one week following the tornado that struck downtown Atlanta on March 14.
The Georgia Dome hosted 20,000 worshippers for New Birth Missionary Baptist Church’s Easter service on Sunday morning. Centennial Olympic Park opened its north park on Saturday morning, welcoming thousands to downtown Atlanta and its nearby attractions. The entire park will open later this week.
“We are extremely pleased that the campus is open and ready for business,” said GWCCA Executive Director Dan Graveline. “This is a great illustration of the strong partnership between the GWCCA, the Atlanta hospitality community, the city and the state.”
“Hundreds - really thousands - of people have worked to get the convention center and the city back to business. It’s a perfect example of teamwork and we want to thank our customers and the community for their support,” said Mark Zimmerman, general manager of the convention center.
FACTS:
International Window Coverings Expo
http://www.windowcoveringexpo.com
o Dates: Wednesday, March 26 – Saturday, March 29 (exhibits)
o Location: Building C of the GWCC
o Estimated Attendance: 8,000
o First year at GWCC. Confirmed for 2009 & 2010
o Contractor – Shepard Exposition Services
National Propane Gas Association – Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo
http://www.npgaexpo.com
o Dates: Saturday, March 29 – Monday, March 31
o Location: C4 – they are moving from Building A. Their space is reduced from approximately 191,000 sq. ft. to 100,000 sq. ft. They are resolving this situation by creating outdoor exhibits trucks at the C4 dock area.
o Estimated Attendance: 4,000
o Customer since 1999. Confirmed for 2009 and 2010.
o Contractor – Shepard Exposition Services
UPCOMING SHOWS
Moved to the Georgia Dome: ING Georgia Marathon and Fitness Expo
o Dates: Friday, March 28 – Saturday, March 29
o Location: Floor of the Georgia Dome
o The Health & Fitness Expo is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. It has more than 100 exhibits from retailers, personal trainers, nutritionists and wellness expo.
Centennial Olympic Park: ING Georgia Marathon and Half Marathon
o Date: Sunday, March 30
o Location: The start and finish of the 26.2 and 13.1 mile races are at Centennial Olympic Park. Over 15,000 runners and wheelers are expected to participate, both professionals and amateurs. Register for the race today, which is expected to sell-out, or plan on enjoying the all-day spectator/runner festivities in the Park.
Postponed: Clinical Laboratory Management Association
ThinkLab ’08 Conference & Exhibition
http://www.clma.org
o Dates: Sunday, March 30 – Tuesday, April 1
o Location: Scheduled for Building B
o Estimated attendance: 6,000
o GWCC and ACVB are working with show management for alternate dates
o Last in Atlanta in 2004
Postponed or cancelled: In order to complete repair work to the building, several meetings, gatherings, ballroom functions and special events have been cancelled or postponed. These include the Central Atlanta Progress Annual meeting, a college career fair and expo and the Delta Sigma Theta Debutante Cotillion.
Timeline for repairs: A team of architects, engineers and contractors are working with GWCCA officials to develop a timeline to repairs to the convention center. While definitive dates have not been determined, officials are confident that upcoming shows, including the Atlanta Journal Constitution Auto Show (April 19-April 27), FIRST Robotics (April 16-April 19) and DECA International Career Development Conference (April 26-April 29) will open their doors as scheduled.