Yesterday I took a look at the San Diego Convention Center’s annual report, and did a little number crunching on some of the top earning events held in the city. The #1 is, of course, San Diego Comic-Con with a local economic impact of $161.1 million for the 2023 show – and doubtless even more for ’24.
Along the way, I noted that the American Society of Hematology is holding its annual meeting this week in San Diego, and I was able to check their list of hotels. There are several hotels on the ASH list that aren’t available for Comic-Con, which I found odd.
Now I’ve been informed by knowledgeable sources that this is an ongoing trend – San Diego hotels have been reducing the number of rooms available in the convention block – or pulling out of being available entirely.
To say this is worrisome is an understatement. Room rates through the convention are high, but generally market price. Room rates OUTSIDE the con block…well, it’s not uncommon to see $1000 a night for close hotels. In fact a quick look right now at Hotels.com showed that rates for that week are already hitting the stratosphere – $2,162 per night for the Bayfront!
Yikers! It should be noted that these are the actual per night charges, with all the extra fees added in – California recently passed a law mandating that hotel room prices shown have to include all the fees.
One the one hand, human nature being what it is, you can’t entirely blame hotel owners for being greedy. Despite the modest and demure estimate that each Comic-Con attendee spends only $1193 per person, every hotel room from downtown to Mission Valley is booked solid, and high demand means high prices.
The shrinking hotel room block is of great concern to SDCC showrunners as well. The con’s contract with the city is coming up for renegotiation, and hotel rates are the biggest area of contention. With fewer hotel rooms available at the con rates, the show is once again looking at options.
“Many of the hotels downtown have been incredibly wonderful to us,” Glanzer told Forbes in a now paywalled story. “They’ve allowed us to use meeting space, they’ve given us huge room blocks, they’ve kept their rates very competitive. But it’s tough when those hotels offer a competitive rate and then a hotel that chooses not to be in the room block charges an exorbitant amount of money. That means the people who work with us end up losing out.”
The San Diego Union Tribune can a survey called “Is it fair for Comic-Con to demand that hotels offer discounted rooms?” and most local economists and politicians said “yes.”
David Ely, San Diego State University
YES: Without prior agreements, hotel rates would jump during Comic-Con due to surging demand. It is fair for the organizers to negotiate the best hotel rates possible for the attendees and to minimize the risk that pricey hotels will lead to diminished turnout. We should expect Comic-Con organizers to assess whether the event could be more successful in another city and to be open about what it will take for San Diego to be competitive.
Phil Blair, Manpower
YES: As a past chair of the Convention Center there are lots of ways to fill the building and bring money into San Diego. One is high paying, therefore very profitable, medical conferences. The other extreme is Comic-Con. Their huge audience cannot afford expensive hotel rooms so SDCC has a hard decision to make every year. But there is no other event like Comic-Con that brings San Diego the worldwide exposure and visibility that money cannot buy. It’s also one time that San Diegans get to participate in Convention Center activities.
Executives
Gary London, London Moeder Advisors
YES: Sounds like a negotiating tactic to me that will likely resolve closer to 2025. “Enticing” people to come to San Diego is not a credible excuse: conventioneers always prefer San Diego. Broadly speaking, hotel prices skyrocketed post-COVID-19 and have remained sticky. Obviously operating costs have increased, necessitating a rise in hotel prices. Much of this stickiness remains because travelers have yet to push back. This is an example of a market pushback.
These don’t actually sound like resounding yeses, but okay.
While Comic-Con leaving san Diego still sounds like a long shot, if more and more people are asked to pay $800 to stay at the Alma, I do think it will have a chilling effect on the event – and there will be continued pushback. While Reddit is a vale of tears and endless complaints about everything, I saw more and more griping about costs and hotel rooms and threats to stop attending. From conversations I’ve had, even nerdlebrities and studio people are likely to balk at paying $800 a night to stay at the Alma! Just as comics folks have gradually packed up their longboxes and left SDCC, the folks who go for the collectibles and panels ar also beginning to say “Enough!”
But bear in mind, other unique experiences, like Wrestlemania, are also raising ticket prices, to shock and grumbling. It seems that since we’re living in a plutocracy, the spectacle events are getting more and more expensive. I’m not familiar with the ebb and flow of hotel prices for other big events like Sundance and SXSW, but a check of the Sundance hotel page shows rooms from $450 to $4000 a night. SXSW prices are more in line, with many options around $300-400 a night.
Comic-Con is a truly memorable experience, maybe even a once in a lifetime one for many people, but it’s still more proletarian than Sundance and SXSW. Partly because it’s more or less open to anyone, getting a ticket and lodging has become increasingly stressful as more and more people want to go. But Glanzer isn’t wrong: having fewer affordable hotel rooms available will definitely dampen enthusiasm. And i can tell you right now: comics publishers aren’t going to pay $800 a night for a room at the Alma either. (I’m sure the Alma is nice but it is NOT that close to the convention center.)
At any rate, hotel negotiations are underway and could have a big impact on the future of SDCC. Local experts and con-goers alike agree: securing hotel room blocks and stable prices for Comic-Con is important for the event to continue to grow and evolve.
Hotels are for profit, and I’m thinking all this talk is part of the negotiating tactics on both sides. The hotels take a risk not booking rooms if they raise their rates too far. By the same token, people share rooms to keep costs down. SDCC risks attendees not buying tickets if they move (yes, that’s also a possibility). It’s a game of chicken.
Hotels are in the business of making money. They see people walking in to their places downtown, having spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars at the con daily. Of course they want to get a bigger piece of the pie. In fact, it’s the responsibility of the general managers at those hotels to do just that. If pros can’t stay at the Bayfront, Hard Rock, Omni, or Hyatt because affluent fans have deeper pockets than publishers, so be it. Stay out in Hotel Circle, with the rest of us. I assume they still have the shuttle busses that run downtown from there. At just over a mile from the convention center, staying at the Alma would be a dream. That’s an easy walk. I remember waiting to speak with Terry Dodson on the convention floor some years ago. He was talking to a colleague, and I overheard him say they were staying way outside of town somewhere. I was surprised. Sone of the biggest names in the biz, and they didn’t have a room downtown. If the Dodsons don’t need it, everyone else will be fine, too.
Just a quick note for historians possibly reading this post, re Mark R’s comment: exhibitors are given first crack at closer hotel rooms because THEY ARE THE ONES PUTTING ON THE SHOW. They have to get to the convention center early and do set-up and many other things. They are providing the exhibits for the rich collectors and they deserve to not have to wait for the trolley and have a long commute to the con each day. Of course it can be done, and staying far away isn’t the end of the world, but paying for a booth does give you some perks.
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