Thinking Outside the Concrete Box: How Modern-Day Convention and Events Centers Benefit Communities Across the Country

You've probably walked into many convention and events centers in your lifetime without realizing the impact your presence creates there.  

A long hall buzzing with people, branded booths lining the floor and the unmistakable hum of business, networking and big ideas colliding. Maybe for a tech expo in Austin, a medical conference in Chicago or even a comic con in San Diego, convention and event centers are one of greatest centers of gravity for a community. 

They are the front porch of visitation for destinations across the U.S., bringing hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people together for a shared purpose and introducing them to places and experiences that inspire them to return. 

But convention and event centers do more than welcome visitors into the community. They bring their dollars too. The dollars visitor in Durham spend flow through the community, supporting small businesses, creating jobs in our local workforce and generating tax revenue that supports City and County budgets. That's why Durham's Destination Master Plan (DMP) recommends a new convention and events center, one that focuses on innovation and helps attract overnight visitors that stay in Durham longer, spending more money in our community along the way. 

"But didn't the pandemic end in-person meetings and the need for conventions?" 

The pandemic permanently changed many aspects of our way of life; however, the desire to gather and connect with one another isn't one of them. In 2023, conference attendance rose by 20% to more than 28 million attendees nationwide. In 2024, conferences, concerts and events generated $424 billion in the U.S.  

Even our very own Durham Convention Center had a record year for conferences in fiscal year 2024, generating almost $2 million in revenue from hosting conventions alone. 

Cities like Denver, San Francisco and Dallas are looking toward the future and investing in modern, mixed-use convention and event centers to revitalize their communities, blending visitor experiences with the residential character that surrounds them. Think integrated history museums, art exhibits and small business retail opportunities staged as the perfect backdrop for downtime in between conference sessions or art displays reflective of the community's character, drawing your eye as you walk from one meeting room to the next.  

Convention and Event Centers are Economic Drivers 

Attending a conference costs attendees more than just registration. It includes airfare or gas, hotel stays, dining and often entertainment or recreation when time allows. Those benefits to the host destination add up quickly and scale dramatically when thousands of attendees come to town. 

In fact, five years removed from the pandemic, the economic impact – the sum of all the visitor spending across industries – of conferences in 2025 is projected to be $120 billion nationwide. $120 billion is a big number, but how are we seeing that impact take shape in communities that have modernized event centers? 

• Workforce Support: Convention and events centers help sustain nearly 6 million jobs across the U.S. There are, of course, jobs like hotel staff and caterers that rely on events; there are others who benefit, too, like florists, DJs and parking attendants.  

• Economic Overflow: A convention might bring 1,000 visitors to a destination who also treat themselves to dinner at nearby restaurants, tip local bartenders, call for rideshares and buy souvenirs from retail shops in the area. Those visitor dollars sprawl throughout the community to support the longevity of surrounding small businesses that create avenues for entrepreneurship and job creation. 

• Tax Revenue Generation: In 2024 alone, visitors to Durham paid over $80 million in state and local taxes. A larger convention and events center could significantly increase this contribution. Over 30 years, a new facility is projected to generate $259 million in additional tax revenue for the City and County to support resources for Durham residents. 

According to Axios, Durham is one of the country’s fastest-growing metros, drawing interest both domestically and internationally. As Durham’s population continues to increase, economic drivers like convention and events centers are going to play a significant role in our community’s development by generating jobs, supporting small businesses and increasing tax revenues.  

Convention and Events Centers are Community Assets 

It’s easy to think of a convention and events center and picture a windowless, concrete box that takes up the entire city block, but cities like Raleigh, Houston and St. Louis aren’t making major investments into the redesign of their facilities just to create more of the same. 

Across the country, urban planners are injecting innovation into capital developments to fit smart growth strategies that promote environmental sustainability, access to multi-modal mobility and the preservation of destinations’ natural and cultural resources. Who says we can’t take the same approach for how we develop a new convention and events center here in Durham? Or follow our usual inclinations and do it better? 

Contemporary convention and event centers are breaking the mold by incorporating engaging features like open space for outdoor events, ground-level spaces for retail and restaurants, amphitheaters and performance spaces, culinary gardens, walkable districts and more.  

With thoughtful design, a new convention and events center in Durham could offer gathering spaces, local programming and inclusive access for everyone who calls Durham home. 

“So, What’s Right for Durham?” 

Good question. Convention and events centers alone don’t drive visitation. According to Rob Svedberg, who leads the convention center team at TVS Architecture and Interior Design, it’s the experiences created around the center that matter. 

The DMP’s assessment of Durham as a destination found that Durham’s beautiful outdoor spaces, dynamic food scene and flagship entertainment offerings are already drawing visitors to our community, but the size of our current convention center ultimately knocks Durham out of the running as an option for many meetings and conventions. 

Durham is on track to become North Carolina’s third-largest city, yet it offers less convention space than smaller communities like Hickory, Lumberton and Concord. Between 2019 and 2024, we know that our current facility lost $27 million in potential business, highlighting a steady demand for events in Durham even after the pause of the COVID-19 pandemic. We imagine the real opportunity costs to be much, much higher after seeing some event planners not even bothering to inquire about availability after learning about our more restrictive offerings. 

Along with the economic loss that comes with the lack of space in our current convention and events center, we’re also seeing limited possibilities for experiences here in Durham. The Durham Convention Center’s current floor plan makes it unsuitable for larger consumer events like car shows, technology expos and comic cons that can appeal to residents as much as they do visitors.  

A feasibility study by Hunden Partners, commissioned by the City of Durham, found Durham is punching above its weight, attracting conferences and events larger than it can reasonably support. While the findings showed a huge opportunity for Durham to invest in a new convention and events center, this project remains in the preliminary stages, with Durham Next leading the next phase of feasibility research after receiving the support of City and County government. 

Without reimagining what a modern convention center could look like here, our community risks missing out on millions in visitor dollars that could be invested to help make Durham the best place to live and work. 

Working Together to Reimagine What Could Be 

This project isn’t about turning Durham into a tourist hotspot (though we know that increased visitor spending will support small businesses that haven’t recovered foot traffic back yet from the pandemic). We’re exploring how such an asset could benefit the long-term social and economic health of this community. To be the right fit for Durham, a new convention and events center would need to be a strategic move that brings lasting value, from jobs and tax revenue to shared spaces and civic pride. 

That lasting value for visitors and residents is why Durham Next is proud to lead the next phase of research into a new facility. And as this project moves forward, Durham Next is committed to bringing the community to the table—to co-create a convention and events center that reflects Durham’s values and vision. Follow along with progress on our Project Tracker or contact us with questions at info@duhramnext.org.