VisitPittsburgh: 2015 Best Year Yet for Conventions

After a few years in which business travelers helped to buoy the hotel business, VisitPittsburgh expects 2015 to be the city’s best convention year ever, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Business Times. The biggest new convention booking the convention and visitors bureau announced as part of its annual meeting is a 2016 convention of the National League of Cities, representing 16,791 room nights.

VisitPittsburgh is preparing to host 9,000 attendees for the Veterans of Foreign Wars 116th National Convention from July 18 to 22, representing an estimated $9 million in direct spending, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police National Convention in mid-August, slated to represent 16,551 room nights and $7.3 million in estimated direct spending.

“What we have on the books makes it easily a record-breaking year,” said Craig Davis, CEO of VisitPittsburgh, describing 2015 as the biggest year Ive ever seen in Pittsburgh in a local career of 22 years in terms of the number of room nights and bookings.

Read the story