'Bookings right at pace'

With reservations made as far as six years in advance, the Charleston Area Convention Center might just weather the economic storm unscathed.

Sales director Ed Riggs said the 2008-'09 year looks to meet budget, and is steadily lining up clients for 2011 and 2012. "We're seeing future bookings right at pace," he said. "National associations have to host conventions every year because that's how they get annual revenue."

And just as bookings defy the market, so do those who attend them. Buyers and sellers tend to do just that — buy and sell, as usual — when put in the convention vacuum, according to Riggs.

"That's why convention centers tend to be steadier," he said. "We're booked so far in advance that we're not susceptible to the ebb and flow ... that affects hotels."

That's the theory that Missouri-based lodging developer John Q. Hammons espoused in his line of hotels, many of which are positioned near convention centers. One is the Embassy Suites adjacent to the convention center.

Peter Steketee, general manager of the North Charleston hotel, said the placement works because it draws reservations and business groups that come even when the leisure season slows.

The College of Charleston's Office of Tourism Analysis released a study in January estimating the complex's value to the area. It said the convention center and neighboring North Charleston Coliseum drew 1.4 million visitors in 2007, a more-than 7 percent increase over the previous year. The study estimates $53.8 million in sales and $6.5 million in direct tax revenue.

Even so, the complex cannot sustain itself. Each year, the city of North Charleston budgets taxpayer funds to help pay for the facilities. The amount of money needed decreases each year, but the 2008-'09 budget included $1.5 million in funding.

Warren Wise of The Post and Courier contributed to this story.