Atlanta loses its largest show to Vegas
Georgia tourism officials are scrambling to find new business after the nation’s fourth-largest convention center lost its largest show.
The National Association of Home Builders decided Atlanta was not big enough for its 105,000 delegates. The show plans to rotate between Orlando and Las Vegas.
Officials said it outgrew Atlanta’s 93,000 hotel rooms and 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space at the Georgia World Congress Center.
The builder’s show accounted for nearly 10% of the convention business on the books for 2007 and 2008, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
The move came at a time when the city is preparing to open a new $200 million Georgia Aquarium and the $2 billion Atlantic Station. An Olympics museum and possibly a NASCAR hall of fame are also underway.
Atlanta has almost 40,000 fewer rooms than Las Vegas. Its convention center will also be impacted by Chicago’s McCormick Place, which is doubling its size in its current expansion.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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