Center of convention center

Space is important, but that isn't all businesses and trade organizations investigate when they shop for where to hold their next show or convention.

Center of convention center
McCormick Place, at 2.2 million square feet, is the largest convention facility in the United States. And facilities under development across the country won't surpass its size, according to the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau.

Space is important, but that isn't all businesses and trade organizations investigate when they shop for where to hold their next show or convention. Labor, hotel and restaurant costs also are factors in the decision.

Labor costs at McCormick aren't nearly as high as prices in New York, San Francisco or San Jose, Calif. In fact, Chicago workers charge an average rate of $62.52 an hour, ranking it seventh among cities that participated in a survey done by the the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, a sales and marketing organization.

"These figures are important to Chicago," said Jim Reilly, chief executive of the bureau. "Unfortunately, there's an overall belief that Chicago's labor rates are the highest in the country. This survey proves otherwise."

Chicago offered more than 76,000 hotel rooms in 1999, ranking it fifth behind No. 1 Las Vegas, with 109,365 rooms. An average room cost $199 in Chicago, about $25 less than New York's $223 a room. The average daily meal costs were $80.78 in Chicago, eighth behind New York, which averages $106.15.

Chicago seems to do more with less money. It's the top destination for overnight group meetings, but the tourism bureau worked on a $10.5 million annual budget in 1999. That's small potatoes compared to Las Vegas' bureau, which had a $124 million budget in 1999.

For more information, go to Conventions.net.


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