Downtown Hartford’s convention center, opened in 2005 as an economic driver for the capital city and the surrounding region, is not expected to recover from a battering by the pandemic for two years, perhaps longer.
Visitors and events are returning to the sprawling, over a half-million-square-foot Connecticut Convention Center on the city’s waterfront, after it was closed for most of 2020 and 2021.
But the most desirable events — multiday corporate bookings — still largely have not returned. These events are big moneymakers for the convention center and also ripple economically out into the city with hotel stays, meals out at restaurants and free time to explore Hartford and spend money at attractions.
And, it isn’t clear when — or even if — the multiday corporate events will return to what they were before the pandemic struck in early 2020.
Michael W. Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority, the quasi-public agency that oversees the operations of the state-owned convention center, said the pandemic has scrambled business for the venue, everything from staff hiring to the mix of events.
“It’s like we’re rebuilding the business,” Freimuth said during a recent walk through the massive structure. “It’s like we’re going back 19, 20 years ago and starting from scratch on the building.”
How the city’s convention business shakes out in the coming years will have an effect on restaurants, entertainment venues and other businesses that have factored conventioneer foot traffic into their plans. Convention center experts say the economic fallout from the pandemic ran particularly deep, even exceeding that of the 9/11 attacks in its duration.
“Big picture, we have seen a slower recovery than what we would have anticipated,” said Charles H. Johnson IV, chief executive of Chicago-based Johnson Consulting, which specializes in convention centers and has studied Hartford’s in the past. “We were thinking it would be back to normal by the end of 2023, 100% back to normal. We are pushing that out to 2024.”
Johnson said even some of the larger events went virtual during the pandemic. And while there was initial enthusiasm for getting back together in person, there is still some lingering reluctance for health reasons.
The slow return of corporate bookings isn’t a surprise since the pandemic pushed many meetings onto Zoom. COVID-19 also triggered a dramatic shift in the workplace to a hybrid work environment — part at home, part at the office — or all together at a remote location.
Evidence of companies still leaning toward virtual communication also can be seen at airports where business travel still lags leisure flight bookings.
“I think hybrid is going to shake out. It’s not going to last,” Johnson said. “But people are still using that as a vehicle, so the pickup has not been as high as you would want.”
Johnson said he expects corporate meetings to return especially for in-person networking and training as well as shareholder meetings.
Competition for the convention business in Connecticut was ramping up even before the pandemic, and it is expected to become even more fierce now as convention venues push to build event bookings back up.
Hartford’s venue was coming under pressure from new convention centers at the Mohegan Sun casino in southeastern Connecticut and the MGM casino in Springfield.
In 2018, Mohegan Sun opened a 240,000-square-foot convention and expo center and quickly snapped up the Connecticut International Auto Show, a staple at the convention center in Hartford for a dozen years.
Huge hit in the pandemic
Hartford’s convention center business, much like competing venues regionally and nationally, took a huge hit in the pandemic.
In the fiscal year 2019, there were 178 events, according to CRDA. That fell to 105 events in fiscal 2020 because the convention center lost the last three months as the pandemic took hold. There were no events in fiscal 2021, with the exception of COVID-19 testing and the venue prepared — but never used — as a field hospital.
In fiscal 2022, there were 71 events and in the current fiscal year, it is projected there will be 74.
Attendance also plunged by nearly 35% from 327,913 in fiscal 2019 to 215,705 in fiscal 2022.
Since opening about 17 years ago, the convention center has typically required a subsidy — in recent years, about $3.8 million to cover operating expenses. But Freimuth points out the venue has usually generated more in taxes from events to cover the subsidy.
The operating loss was much deeper in fiscal 2021 when there were no events, coming in at $5.6 million. Similar losses came in fiscal 2022 and are expected in the current fiscal year, with federal pandemic relief funding closing the gap.
The main goal of the convention center was not to make a lot of money but bring visitors to the city, boosting the area’s economic fortunes and vibrancy as well as showcasing Hartford.
One seemingly bright spot is that attendance in the current fiscal year is expected to rise to 320,000. But Freimuth cautions about reading too much into the number.
A big chunk — 60,000-plus — will come from Beyond Van Gogh Hartford, which is the first show of its kind booked at the convention center.
Michael Costelli, the convention center’s general manager, said the exhibition hall for Beyond Van Gogh opened up because of pandemic-related event cancellations.
While popular, the show does not generate a lot of revenue for the convention center through catering, parking and other service fees; and those attending, for the most part, don’t extend their visits to other parts of the city, Freimuth said.
Needs to be economic driver
The city is stepping up its efforts to attract more conventions to Hartford using about $1.3 million in federal pandemic relief funds for what could be the first steps toward creating a long-contemplated convention and visitors bureau solely aimed at Hartford.
“For many years, the convention center has been one of the few large convention centers without a serious and well-resourced convention and visitor’s bureau — promoting, marketing, selling and coordinating those conferences,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said.
“The convention center still is and needs to be an important economic driver, and it’s important that we aggressively compete for convention business.”
The thought is to better connect conventioneers with what is going on in the city, both downtown and in the neighborhoods. The effort aims at moving beyond reacting to visitor needs but being out front with options and plan for making them happen, an integral part of the pitch to bring conventions to the city.
The idea of a locally-focused convention and visitors bureau had been percolating for a year or so before the pandemic struck. There was a push for state funding, but that fell to the sidelines as the pandemic deepened.
In 2019, a report by Johnson Consulting, the Chicago firm, was commissioned by CRDA for recommendations on how to increase convention business in the city, even as the venue was facing intensifying competition.
The convention and visitors bureau was a key recommendation from the report. The effort will start with two or three new hires at the convention center but could increase and eventually secure state funding, Freimuth said.
Johnson Consulting’s report said it was possible to build convention attendance to 500,000 in the next decade, but the report’s eight recommendations, including the bureau, came just before the pandemic. One other recommendation — the addition of hotel rooms in the city — would be a particularly heavy lift.
The pandemic hit Hartford’s hotel industry hard. One hotel — the Hilton on Trumbull Street near the XL Center — came dangerously near to closing as business travel plummeted. A $29 million rescue plan kept it open and will convert the top floors to apartments with a smaller hotel, a DoubleTree, below the rentals.
Despite challenges to rebuilding the convention business in Hartford, restaurateur Al Gamble said he is optimistic about his decision to open his sixth Plan b Burger Bar in the nearby Front Street entertainment district.
Gamble said he had his eye on the space ever since Ted’s Montana Grill closed early on in the pandemic. But it wasn’t until recently that he saw positive signs emerging, making the time right to open his restaurant, now slated for November.
He pointed to the return of University of Connecticut students to the downtown Hartford campus, live concerts at Good Works/Infinity Hall and more people living in downtown apartments. Traffic from the convention center also figured into his decision.
“It’s an anchor for the city and a big factor for us,” Gamble said. “The timing just seems right.”
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
