The USANA event brought in an estimated 8,500 attendees and is expected to generate nearly $7.5 million in total visitor spending to Salt Lake and the state of Utah. The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, the state's largest annual convention, attracted 1,200 vendors, nearly 27,000 attendees and generated almost $25 million in visitor spending.
Total visitor spending figures are based on surveys of convention delegates conducted by the University of Utah’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Surveys conducted by the research group over the past five years indicate the average delegate spends $923 while attending a convention in Salt Lake.
Ensign said that the total estimated cost for such a project would be in the $300 million range. He said providing such significant financial support for a convention center hotel would be unfair to other hoteliers that built and upgraded their properties with no public funding.
He said subsidization could take various forms including property tax abatements, bonding or tax increment financing. Either way, such assistance would give the new property an unfair advantage. Deseret News
