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Group’s national convention to be here in 2022

Milwaukee has landed the 2022 national American Legion convention. Its 13,000 attendees will create an estimated economic impact of $11.2 million for the Milwaukee area.

Milwaukee has landed a large national convention, with the American Legion coming to the city in 2022.

The convention’s 13,000 attendees will create an estimated economic impact of $11.2 million for the Milwaukee area, according to the Friday announcement from Visit Milwaukee.

Much of that spending will be at area hotels.

The convention will account for 17,700 room nights, a measure of the number of hotel rooms used multiplied by the number of nights they are booked. Attendees also will spend money at restaurants, shops and other local businesses.

“It was a real team effort to win this major convention business for Milwaukee,” said Paul Upchurch, president and chief executive officer of Visit Milwaukee, the publicly financed nonprofit group that promotes the area to convention planners and other visitors.

“The combination of the American Legion’s successful convention experience here in 2010, along with a great convention package and the promise of all the new development that will be in place by 2022, helped seal the deal for Milwaukee,” Upchurch said in a statement.

Milwaukee will host the convention from Aug. 24 to Sept. 1, 2022.

The agency that operates the Wisconsin Center convention facility has started a study on a possible expansion.

The study comes after another report said the Wisconsin Center earns less revenue than similar facilities in peer cities that compete with Milwaukee for conventions.