By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Delegates to the Democratic National Convention won’t be lodging in Rowan County, but security personnel will rest their heads here.
James Meacham, executive director of the Salisbury-Rowan County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that’s good news for local hotels.
“Based on my initial conversations with the event planner, the hotels are going to come out doing very, very well,” he said. “The tourism authority will also benefit because of the occupancy and sales taxes.”
But Meacham said the overall economic impact for the county will likely be less than if delegates were staying here.
“Security is usually there early and is usually the last to leave,” he said. “Because they’ll most likely have to be in Charlotte early, they won’t be at local restaurants, gas stations and stores.
“They’ll be staying here overnight, but they don’t have much time to actually go out here.”
Right now, Meacham doesn’t have any specific numbers about the economic impact the convention will have on the county, but he will have an idea when he finds out how many rooms are booked up.
Krista Osterweil, general manager of the Hampton Inn in Salisbury, said she expects the hotel to be busy during the convention.
“On the peak nights, we’ve committed about 80 percent of our inventory, which is about 95 rooms, and (the DNC) has assured us that they are going to use those rooms,” she said.
Rooms will cost about twice as much as they do on a typical night’s stay, Osterweil said.
“The rates are higher partially because of supply and demand and partly because of fees for working with the DNC,” she said.
Osterweil said the hotel is looking forward to playing host during the convention.
“It’s very exciting to be involved in this,” she said. “Charlotte is getting a great opportunity to host the convention, and we’re really pleased to be part of that.”
Holiday Inn
David Redden, general manager of Salisbury’s Holiday Inn, said he’s confident the hotel will be completely booked during the convention.
“We’ll sell out the whole week, that’s just a given,” he said. “We’ve given all our rooms to DNC, we’re just waiting to hear from them about who will be staying here.”
Redden said the room rates were set about two years ago when the announcement was made the convention would be held in Charlotte.
A “rooms and rates” search on the Holiday Inn’s website showed a room costing double the typical rate.
Meacham expects the security personnel to be bused back and forth to Charlotte during the convention, which starts Sept. 3. He said they’ll likely stay longer than the delegates, arriving about four days early.
Delegates in Cabarrus
Cabarrus County will have 11 convention delegations staying in its hotels.
“Our entire community is thrilled to welcome these delegations to Cabarrus County for the Democratic National Convention,” Donna Carpenter, president and chief executive officer of the Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said in a press release.
“I feel confident that our top notch hotels and our southern hospitality will provide them with an experience that will leave them wanting to come back for more.”
The Cabarrus bureau projects $6 million in economic impact to the area, based on room nights and the average rate for those rooms.
“The (convention) will have significant economic impact and will offer us the opportunity to showcase Cabarrus County as a true visitor destination,” Carpenter said.
About 500 delegates from Michigan, Maryland and Rhode Island will be staying at the Embassy Suites and Courtyard by Marriott in Concord.
“We are committed to making their experience in Concord an outstanding one with our luxurious accommodation, state-of-the-art meeting facilities, friendly staff and accessible location,” said Terry Crawford, general manager of the Embassy Suites Charlotte-Concord Golf Resort & Spa.
A Concord welcome
Concord Mayor Scott Padgett said he’s looking forward to welcoming the delegations to the area.
“The people of Concord work and play hard,” he said in a press release. “There is always a feeling of excitement, energy and high expectations in the community. We call it high performance living and we know the fine DNC delegates will be excite to come back for more.”
15,000 rooms
The Democratic National Convention Committee released a list of housing assignments of delegates Tuesday.
They will stay in 6,700 rooms in Charlotte and Concord.
There are still 8,300 contracted rooms to be reserved for people such as credentialed media and convention speakers.
Vinay Patel, senior vice president of operations and sales for the Charlotte-based SREE Hotels, said he’s pleased delegations will be staying in his hotels.
“Our properties in the Concord and (Charlotte) airport area were strategically selected for delegations based on their proximity to the large full-service hotels like Embassy Suites and Great Wolf Lodges with substantial capacity for meeting and reception space,” he said in a press release.
Patel said several hotels in Huntersville are still under contract with the convention committee.
“Over the next several weeks we anticipate additional placements, such as thousands of security, media, speakers and groups the committee with house,” he said.
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.
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Where they’restaying
Cabarrus County hotels will host the following state delegations:
Hilton Garden Inn Concord
Alaska
District of Columbia
Wingate Inn Concord
Kansas
Embassy Suites Charlotte-Concord Golf Resort and Spa
Maryland
Michigan
Rhode Island
Courtyard by Marriott Concord
Maryland
Residence Inn Concord
Michigan
Great Wolf Lodge
Montana
Texas
Spring Hill Suites Concord
New Mexico
Texas
Sleep Inn and Suites Concord
Puerto Rico
Hampton Inn & Suites Concord
West Virginia