CONVENTIONS
will not bid,” said Megumi Robinson, spokeswoman for Experience Columbus, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.
“The city is in a much different place than it was during the last bid cycle in 2014,” Robinson said. “Since then, we’ve pursued and won major economic-development projects, sporting events and conventions ... that the community has committed to and is investing resources in. While the timing is not right this time, we look forward to the opportunity to bid in 2024 if we are asked.”
Columbus was one of three finalists for the 2016 Democratic convention, something that is still cited by local tourism leaders as a big win for Columbus, even though Philadelphia triumphed in the end.
Then-Mayor Michael B. Coleman called getting the convention a top priority of his final year in office, traveling more than half a dozen times to Washington to make his case to the party. Democratic site selectors were welcomed to Columbus by 1,000 cheering volunteers.
Landing a political convention has often been cited as a reason for building hotels and adding meeting space, including expansion of the convention center and justrevealed plans to build an addition to the Hilton hotel.
Robinson said the city already has major events to host, citing such upcoming events as the NCAA Women’s Final Four basketball championship, scheduled for the end of this month, and the American Society of Association Executives, a large Washington, D.C.-based organization made up of people from across the country who regularly make decisions on where to hold their groups’ own meetings and conventions.
Such large groups require extensive fundraising and planning in the host community. To secure the Democratic convention in 2016, the city would have had to commit to raising about $40 million. Cleveland pledged to raise $68 million in its successful bid to get the Republican convention that year.
Robin Davis, spokeswoman for Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, issued a statement almost identical to the one made by Experience Columbus. Davis cited upcoming big events, such as the Women’s Final Four and ASAE meeting, as examples of ones the city has chosen to focus “current efforts” on, and reiterated that the city would consider bidding for the 2024 conventions.
County commissioners did not respond to a request for comment.
Officials indicated the decision was not about politics. The city’s mayor and elected council members, and county commissioners, all have been Democrats for more than a decade, though Coleman, during his time in office, had indicated he would welcome the convention of either party.