Davis Conference Center a tourism target in Utah
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No comments [ Add Comment ]By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
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One feature officials hope will bring more people to the county in 2008 is the 25,000-square-foot expansion of the Davis Conference Center.
"It is different marketing for 32,000 square feet versus 57,000 square feet," said Barbara Riddle, the president of the bureau.
The bureau hosted a breakfast Friday for county and business leaders and reviewed Davis tourism numbers from 2006.
The bureau is a not-for-profit organization funded through the transient room and restaurant tax.
Riddle said she expects trade shows, larger groups and conventions to come to Davis County as a result of the conference center expansion, which equals more money spent in the county.
The county has set March 8 as the tentative day for the groundbreaking ceremony for the $11 million expansion, said Barry Burton, assistant director for the county's community and economic development.
Plans for the expansion are supposed to be completed by Feb. 19. The expansion is funded through a sales tax bond and a state grant of $500,000, county Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings said.
A study done by the county showed that after the first year the convention center was open, it brought nearly $15 million of new money into the county, Burton said. Officials expect the new expansion will also bring in an additional $15 million.
"That doesn't translate into direct profits to the conference center," Burton said.
The $15 million will be money spent in the county at restaurants, hotels and businesses because of people coming for conferences and conventions or just to visit.
The bureau has been aggressively marketing Davis County as the place to come and it's paying off, Riddle said.
From January to November in 2006, almost 72 percent of hotel/motel beds were occupied -- about a 7 percent increase from the same time the previous year.
Lagoon saw 1.2 million visitors in 2006, which was an increase of almost 10 percent from 2005, Riddle said.
