The municipal owner of Chicago’s McCormick Place, North America's largest convention center, collected a record amount of annual taxes on items including hotels, auto rentals and food in a sign of further recovery for the hospitality industry more than three years since the arrival of COVID-19.
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority said it collected a record $168.4 million in the year ended June 30 from tourism-related expenses, which the municipal corporation uses to fund its debt service. The previous record was $158.5 million for fiscal 2019.
The McCormick Place campus located south of the Loop business district also collected $153 million in state and local taxes, the authority said in a statement. Those were generated from 212 events at the sprawling convention center, which brought in an estimated 2 million-plus guests and 1.29 million hotel-room nights, it added.
The events had an estimated economic effect on the city of nearly $2 billion, according to the statement. The figures are a sign that Chicago and other large cities are fully recovering from the effects of the pandemic, which virtually shut down conventions and other travel starting in early 2020.
During the start of the health crisis, McCormick Place was transformed into an emergency hospital with 2,750 beds.
“When McCormick Place reopened after COVID just two years ago, we could not have imagined how successful our recovery would be,” the authority's CEO, Larita Clark, said in the statement. Clark added that the results signal demand for events and conventions is "on the path for long-term growth.”
Events Return
Chicago’s tourism industry has gotten a boost from the return of conventions for medical and trade groups and other organizations.
The city also was among several cities recently experiencing added hospitality demand from Taylor Swift concerts. While Swift played three Chicago shows at Soldier Field near McCormick Place, Chicago set a weekend record with more than 44,000 hotel rooms occupied from Friday through Sunday.
The McCormick Place campus had record operating revenue of $339.3 million in the fiscal year and $7.9 million in net operating income. That is far better than a previously projected $12.4 million operating loss, according to the statement.
Besides the sprawling convention center, the McCormick Place campus includes the Marriott Marquis Chicago and Hyatt Regency McCormick Place hotels, Wintrust Arena and Arie Crown Theater.
The recently completed fiscal year “has put MPEA in a very favorable position moving forward,” Chief Financial Officer Jason Bormann said in the statement.
“We were able to make a significant unbudgeted contribution of more than $30 million for planned maintenance, allowing us to continue to invest in our campus,” Bormann added. “I am excited to see [next fiscal year’s] results as conventions and events [continue] to rebound.”