Investment of private dollars into more hotel rooms and public funds into more convention space is, thus far, doing what it’s supposed to do: attracting more events, people, and ultimately dollars, to the Spokane economy. 

Visit Spokane released a report late last month that says visitors to Spokane County spent $947 million here last year. That’s up $54 million, or 6.1 percent, from the previous year.

While many businesses might not see the direct impact of tourism and conventions, the entire community benefits from the infusion of tax dollars and jobs. That volume of spending in 2015, Visit Spokane says, generated $64 million in local and state taxes and is estimated to support 10,000-plus jobs. 

Total attendance at events increased at both the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena and the Spokane Convention Center last year. The Spokane Public Facilities District, which operates both facilities and the INB Performing Arts Center, reports that just over 699,000 people attended events at the arena, up about 46,000 patrons from the previous year. At the convention center, the surge in visitors was even more pronounced: up almost 77,000 people to a total attendance that approached 418,000. 

The performing arts center did experience a drop in attendance, but even when accounting for that decline, the net year-over-year gain in attendance at the three facilities came in at 85,000 people. 

Early this year, the PFD said it was on a pace that would eclipse 2015’s volume. Some of the activity so far this year has included annual events, but much of it involves large one-time events, arguably the most visible being the NCAA men’s basketball tournament games in March and the Team Challenge Cup international ice skating event last month.

The increases in visitors and spending have come quickly after two large, high-profile investments in the downtown core: the $135 million construction of the Davenport Grand Hotel, which opened last June, and the $50 million, 92,000-square-foot expansion of the Convention Center, completed in December 2014. 

One could argue that tourism and convention business in Spokane would have increased without additional guest rooms and more convention space. An improving economy and a successful event track record likely would have led to more heads in beds in the Spokane area. It’s hard to believe, however, that it would have had the same jump in activity without those investments. 

The combination of the additional convention space and more guest rooms enables Visit Spokane, the Spokane Sports Commission, and others to go after larger events than they could in the past. Cheryl Kilday, Visit Spokane’s president and CEO, said it now considers conventions that need 1,200 to 1,400 guest rooms to be its sweet spot, and the city can accommodate much larger groups, something that wouldn’t have been as easy to swing a few years ago. 

The expectation—and our hope—is that the city builds on the recent successes with more high-profile events and thereby more visitors to the Lilac City. All businesses stand to benefit.