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S.D’s Ship Is In With Comic-Con Enterprise

Hollywood may be experiencing a slump at the box office, but the major movie studios still know the value of the concentrated, avid and very large audience that flocks annually to Comic-Con International in San Diego.

A case in point is Paramount Pictures’ decision to premiere “Star Trek Beyond” at this year’s Comic-Con, where those able to get a ticket will be among the first to see the latest film in the iconic sci-fi franchise dating back to the 1960s TV show.

“Probably the biggest announcement (this year) was Paramount choosing Comic-Con as the location for the World Premiere of Star Trek Beyond,” said Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer. “We have some cool surprises, so I think this will be another stellar year for Comic-Con.”

With an increasingly fragmented media landscape, the perennially sold-out Comic-Con — taking place this year July 21-24 and kicking off with an evening preview July 20 — remains among the world’s biggest showcases for those hawking everything that screams pop culture.

Regardless of the lineup, Comic-Con in recent years has drawn a capacity crowd of 130,000 to the San Diego Convention Center, including sci-fi geeks, producers of books, video games, movies and TV shows, and the huge global contingent of media outlets that cover them.

A Fund Fest

Comic-Con is the largest single convention held annually at the local facility, and center officials anticipate that this year’s event will have a $140 million economic impact on the San Diego region. Much of that includes indirect spending at bars, restaurants and other venues that will occur in places like downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter and East Village, with costumed fans filling sidewalks to take in the sci-fi and superhero version of Mardi Gras.

The direct tally is expected to include more than $82.8 million in spending by Comic-Con attendees, who are projected to generate more than $2.9 million in hotel and sales tax revenue as they book nearly 63,000 hotel room nights.

Scott Hermes, general manager at the Westin Gaslamp Quarter hotel, said the 450-room property was booked months ahead of the start of this year’s Comic-Con, as has been the case for the past several years at most downtown hotels.

The Westin will be among several businesses where visitors will be able to purchase superhero-related artwork during Comic-Con, and the event traditionally sees numerous pop-up sales venues and related exhibitions blossom throughout downtown.

“Comic-Con has really grown to take up much more than just the convention center itself,” said Hermes, who also serves as area managing director for several Starwood-branded hotels in the local market. “It’s been very good for our hotels and good for San Diego in general.”

Convention center operators launched into Comic-Con preparations immediately after the conclusion of Major League Baseball’s five-day All-Star Fan Fest, which wrapped up on July 12 and similarly filled the waterfront facility to capacity.

“Comic-Con is in a league of its own when it comes to executing events of its kind and size — global and media attention, as well as engaging people from all walks of life,” said Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe, president and CEO of San Diego Convention Center Corp., in an email. “We will have 210 full-time staff, 229 part-time staff and 95 part-time temporary staff working at the San Diego Convention Center in all departments including event management, communications, engineering, guest services, finance, human resources and housekeeping during Comic-Con.”

That’s in addition to the hundreds of volunteers and paid vendors being deployed by Comic-Con itself to handle crowd control, security, communications, room scheduling and related matters, as well as the convention center’s own private contractors who handle food preparation, internet services, maintenance and repairs, and other daily necessities.

The 2016 Comic-Con International, taking place July 21-24, is expected to have a regional economic impact of 0 million, including more than million in direct attendee spending. Courtesy of San Diego Convention Center Corp.

Should It Stay or Should It Go?

Comic-Con has been held in San Diego every year since its locally based, nonprofit organizers started the event in 1970, and it has taken place at the convention center since 1992. It is currently booked for San Diego through 2018 as of press time, though its long-term venue planning in recent years has become less than a sure thing due to various political and economic factors.

One is persistent competition from numerous other cities looking to steal away Comic-Con, including Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. Another is the current limbo regarding the future of a potential expansion of the existing San Diego Convention Center.

Center and city officials, along with local tourism leaders, have said they prefer an expansion connected to current facilities, but a hotelier-backed funding plan for such a project was struck down by the courts in 2014. Voters this November will likely be considering two ballot measures that could clear the way for the addition of noncontiguous new convention space, including facilities contained in a combined stadium and convention project proposed by the San Diego Chargers for a site in East Village.

Like those of other large organizations, Comic-Con’s leaders have expressed to local officials that they would prefer to hold future conventions in a contiguously expanded facility. Comic-Con has not officially made this issue a sticking point in its venue selection process, but event organizers have also made it clear that the pop-fest is outgrowing its current available space.

“We are certainly looking to 2019-2021 but are pretty consumed currently with the 2016 show,” Glanzer said of Comic-Con’s future venue planning. “The expansion would play a part, as it always has, but it is one of many different issues to consider.”

Regardless of Comic-Con’s long-term location plans, event organizers are in talks to potentially establish a permanent local Comic-Con museum at Balboa Park’s San Diego Hall of Champions. Organizers said such a venue would help Comic-Con further its mission of bringing comics and related popular art forms to a wider audience, on a year-round basis.

Comic-Con and Hall of Champions leaders have not finalized space-usage terms or what might go into a permanent local museum. “We honestly don’t know,” said Glanzer. “We are just discussing and haven’t really fleshed it out yet.”

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