The long awaited event has finally arrived…Comic Con 2011! Outrageous costumed fans will be flooding the streets of downtown in order to meet their favorite entertainment and comic book icons, like Director Steven Spielberg and the cast of the popular series “Twilight”. Comic Con is San Diego’s largest annual event bring over 126,000 people from all around the world. This four-day convention creates a huge impact on the hospitality industry selling out tens of thousands of rooms for attendees while generating over $68 million in spending for just dining, transportation and lodging alone. Comic Con composed a list of nearby hotels; 30 of which are walking distance to the convention center. Nearby hotels are nearly completely booked and those with open rooms are selling for almost double their regular rates. These heighten prices may not last, as Comic Con’s 40-year contract with San Diego ends in 2013. It is now up to these hotels to lower their convention rates and increase incentives in order to compete against other major cities, like Los Angeles and Anaheim, fighting to be the new home for the convention. San Diego is so determined to keep Comic Con, city officials even offered to block out more hotel rooms at cheaper rates while using $500,000 of hotel taxes to pay for a shuttle service to and from the event.
Another looming problem for San Diego is convention space, Comic Con started in 1970 with only 300 attendees meeting in a small basement located in U.S. Grant Hotel and now have expanded taking over the whole convention center and two nearby hotels in order to hold all of its programing. While the city tries to work out these issues, officials and fans alike hope that Comic Con will stick to tradition and continue keeping San Diego its home.
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