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Denver breaks convention record

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The SnowSports Industries America (SIA) show is leaving Las Vegas after 35 years in the city. The four-day SIA SnowSports Trade Show, which annually draws 20,000 ski and snow sport retailers and manufacturers, has signed an agreement to hold its convention in Denver for 10 years, beginning in January 2010. The estimated annual economic impact of the four-day show is $30 million.

“This will be one of the largest conventions held in Denver every year and even better, it comes in January, traditionally one of the slowest months of the year,” says Richard Scharf, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The 10-year agreement makes this the largest convention booking in Denver’s history. Delegates will spend more money in Denver over the next decade than the original $350 million cost of expanding the Colorado Convention Center.”
Denver has been wooing SIA for four years, Scharf says. But the city was not a contender until the convention center’s expansion was complete in December 2004. Since then, Denver has seen a dramatic increase in convention business, with 2006, 2007 and 2008 all vying to be the busiest year on record. The Democratic National Convention is expected to bring 35,000 people to Denver from Aug. 25-28, 2008.