4 days ago
After another record year at the MassMutual Center, Springfield's convention promoters look forward to more visitors
SPRINGFIELD — Rental and catering revenue at the MassMutual Convention Center increased by 17.7% year-over-year, the third straight year of growth, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority said Thursday.
Total food and beverage revenue at the center also hit a new high in the fiscal year that ended in June, up more than 9% from the previous year, the authority said in a news release without giving dollar figures for either.
The convention center — not counting the arena — alone hosted more than 100 events and more than 100,000 attendees, according to the release. The regional economic impact was an estimated $56.7 million, including both the Convention Center and Arena.
The arena is home of the American Hockey League's Springfield Thunderbirds.
Growth is a sign that not only is the convention business recovering from a post-COVID doldrums but that meeting planners are choosing Springfield, said Alicia Szenda, vice president of sales for the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.
COVID shut down conventions for years. Then, meeting organizers and convention bureaus spent the next few years rebooking those canceled conventions, scheduling them after the interruption so as not to lose the business.
'We are not 100% beyond that, but we are close,' Szenda said.
Mary Kay Wydra, president of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, said conventions have changed. There are shorter stays with fewer visitors. Budgets are tighter.
Greater Springfield has been successful at drawing events, she said. That includes the 2025 Massachusetts Governor's Conference on Travel and Tourism back in March.
The conference — focused this year on events and sites associated with the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution — was a chance for the Pioneer Valley to show off for tourism professionals across the state.
And in the coming weeks, the MassMutual Center is set to host a toy show geared to retailers, a trade show for locksmiths and a military reunion. Fall is normally a busy time of year.
The convention center and arena still bear the name of insurance giant MassMutual under an agreement that expired in 2023. But the Convention Center Authority has said it is in the process of selecting a new naming rights sponsor.
The new $80 million replacement Civic Center Carpark opened this spring.
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Read the original article on MassLive.
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