CHICAGO — Touting the city’s bona fides, Chicago politicians and business leaders last week said the city was prepared to host the Democratic National Convention in 2024 and that the major national event would provide a much-needed spark to Chicago’s pandemic-ravaged hospitality industries.
Boosterism and optimism aside, the effort would require a major organizational feat to pull off, and though officials proclaim an estimated economic boost of $150 million, economists have long been skeptical of such figures. They point to security costs, displacement of regular tourism and business and note that those estimates often include spending that would happen regardless.
Still — from the city’s mayor and business executives to heads in food, lodging and hospitality — leaders eagerly talked up the city’s neighborhoods, downtown amenities and experience hosting large events, such as the 2012 NATO Summit and the 1996 Democratic convention.
“We need to bring these conventions back to Chicago following the pandemic,” said Jack Lavin, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, estimating that it could bring 35,000 delegates and visitors to the area. “It will be a great shot in the arm for Chicago.”
Details on possible locations, funding and other factors remained sparse. City officials are waiting for the Democratic National Committee to release a request for proposals, which would allow municipalities to formally begin working on a pitch. Lavin said he expects the DNC to release the request soon.
Democrats have given cities until October to express whether they will submit a bid to host their convention, with Las Vegas and Nashville also under consideration. A source with knowledge of the process said hotel capacity is expected to be a significant factor in the DNC’s decision-making.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is working on the effort with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, among other Democrats, said the city will be “all in” to get the convention if the opportunity presents itself.
“We have lots of hotel space, we’ve got a great, world-class restaurant community,” Lightfoot said Thursday. “We’ve got tons of entertainment, arts and culture, really bar none in the world.”
Chicago has a number of options to choose from for a convention location, including the United Center, where the 1996 Democratic convention was held, as well as Wintrust Arena and Navy Pier, she said.
“We’ve got it all here in Chicago,” she said.
Michael Jacobson, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, who is involved in the planning effort, said the Democratic convention would not only fill Chicago-area hotels for a week, but also provide a long-term boost to the city’s battered image as a tourism destination.
“It would have a huge benefit for the city’s hotels, with tens of thousands of people converging on the central business district over the course of a weekend,” Jacobson said. “But more important, an event like the Democratic National Convention will help change the perception of Chicago for those that haven’t been here in several years.”
The Chicago hotel industry has struggled during the pandemic, with occupancy in the central business district dropping to 26% in 2020 from 74% in 2019, according to data from research firm STR. While hotel occupancy recovered to 42.6% last year, it fell sharply again in January to 23.7% amid the rise of the omicron variant.
The central business district has 135 hotels offering 43,881 rooms, according to Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism arm.
Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, echoed the enthusiasm for a pitch to bring the convention to Chicago. He called it a boon for restaurants still struggling to emerge from the pandemic.
“I think it would definitely help the hospitality industry here in the city of Chicago by putting guests in beds and diners in seats,” he said.
Toia said restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues saw a one-week spike in business during the 1996 convention but that the event was also a catalyst for long-term economic development in the West Loop.
“We get to showcase our great city, museums, our sports teams, our culinary scene,” Toia said. “I think we are a city that is ready to hold a convention once again.”
Officials will have to contend with national perceptions of crime, though Lightfoot said “every major American city” is facing similar boosts in crime.
“We’ll talk to them about the progress we have been making, the programs and initiatives we have been putting in to address gangs and guns, and the investments we have been making to turn around the fortunes of communities, not just in the short-term but really in the long term,” Lightfoot said.
She added: “We’re a really fun city in the summertime.”
Despite optimism from community leaders about grand economic benefits, research on the impact of past Republican and Democratic conventions forecasts a potential for a more modest return.
A peer-reviewed study of Democratic and Republican national conventions published in 2017 found that “host cities’ claims of economic impacts of $150 million or more may be implausible.”
“We are wildly skeptical of that,” said Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross and a co-author of the study. “The data doesn’t suggest you would get anything like that.”
The study found that though the conventions generally create 29,000 room nights of lodging and an increase in hotel revenue of about $20 million on average, they also interrupt other tourism and regular business activity, as well as increase security costs.
“You do bring in a bunch of people, but you chase away a huge number of regular visitors who would normally be in Chicago,” Matheson said. “No one in their right mind wants to be that close to that event.”
Political nominating conventions bring revenue to transportation, restaurants, catering and other areas, in addition to hotels, but also attract protests, create congestion and require a massive amount of security.
“If I’m the mayor of Chicago, if I’m Lori Lightfoot, of course I want the Democratic National Convention. I get to rub elbows …. with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and AOC,” he said. “I don’t want this event in town if I am outside leisure and hospitality industries.
“It is a miserable experience for most people in town.”
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(Chicago Tribune’s Sarah Freishtat contributed to this report.)
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