Convention Centre meant $100M for local economy in full first year, report says
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen | May 13, 2013.
The Ottawa Convention Centre pumped more than $100 million into the local economy in its first full year of operation, says an economic impact report to be released Monday.
The $179-million facility opened in April 2011, but the latest study, prepared by market research firm Ipsos, focused solely on the 2012 calendar year.
It found that 57 big-ticket events that drew more than a quarter of attendees from outside the Ottawa-Gatineau region — the NHL All-Star Weekend and the national Liberal convention among them — attracted more than 47,000 people from outside Ottawa and were responsible for $94 million in direct spending on everything from hotels and meals to taxis and haircuts…