Vicksburg Convention Center touts its increasing contribution to the city’s economy

With the help of more than 30 lodging sites, 20 locally owned restaurants, an ever growing downtown area and events for everyone every day, Vicksburg manages to bring in a hefty amount of revenue from visitors each year. Recently, the Vicksburg Convention Center shared its contribution to the city’s economy for its last fiscal year: a whopping $8,088,489.50. 

Last year, the Convention Center hosted more than 100 events including the annual Miss Mississippi pageant. These events brought in more than 50,000 people over the course of the year. The events help boost business and assists in promoting the city.

“The people we are bringing to the city is why we’re doing so well,” said  VCC Director Annette Kirklin. “We have an estimated 50,824 people come through our doors in ’18-’19. That’s a direct spend of $4,757,935.”

The direct spend amount is multiplied by 1.7 to come up with the overall economic impact.

“That comes from heads in beds, people going to stores … and that $8 million is a very conservative number,” she said. It also represents a $2.75 million increase from the previous year.

Each year the city grants the VCC funds to help with expenses. This year’s grant totals $576,652 and the VCC set its budget at $538,069.

“We get a subsidy from the city,” Kirklin said. “We used to get a hotel/motel tax from the city, and that’s pretty much what we used. The tax now goes to the sports complex.”

In 1995, the city put a 2 percent sales tax  in place for restaurants and hotels, which largely went to funding the VCC. That tax expired in 2017, and the city replaced it with a similar tax to fund the Sports Force Sports Complex.

As the 2019-2020 fiscal year begins, the VCC plans to continue improving the town’s economy with more exposure to all that Vicksburg has to offer.

“We hope to continue increasing our contribution to the city by just getting the word out about Vicksburg,” Kirklin said. “There’s a lot of positive activities going on in our city, and everybody can see it. With that being said, we’re becoming more of a tourist destination. People are inquiring about how they can become more involved in the city, and that’s making our job a lot easier. 

Kirklin also spoke about the VCC’s mutually beneficial relationship with the city’s hotels. 

The Margaritaville Hotel, located across the street from the Convention Center, “has contributed a lot to our conventions,” Kirklin said, “and we benefit their business as well, but it also helps the other hotels.” With only 170 rooms in the Margaritaville, other Vicksburg hotels benefit when large meetings take place in the VCC.

“So, we’re reaching out to more people, bringing in new conventions in 2020 and trying to get the word out to as many people as we can,” Kirkland said.