If you?re looking to find a hotel room in Baltimore this week, good luck.
With the 101st meeting of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education ? the largest convention in Baltimore?s history ? in town this week, many hotels in the city are booked solid. But, it?s not just the city?s hotels that are seeing a surge in business.
“Nineteen hotels are contracted for the convention and the impact of the convention is being felt not only here in Baltimore, but around the region,” said Nancy Hinds, a spokeswoman with the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association.
“People are staying in Ellicott City and White Marsh. With 50,000 people and an estimated 25,000 rooms, the impact is definitely being felt throughout the region,” Hinds said.
Wanda Morgan, director of sales and marketing at the Embassy Suites Airport Hotel at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, said the convention has spurred an increase in bookings at the hotel with a total of 50 rooms per night booked by conventioneers.
“Citywide events [of this magnitude] definitely help the outlying areas,” she said. “I don?t think everyone necessarily wants to stay downtown, some want to be out of the way a little bit.”
Meanwhile, Rick Straub, general manager of the Tremont Hotels, about five blocks away from the Inner Harbor, said both of the hotels are “very close to a virtual sell-out every night this week.”
Chris Phillips, general manager of the Wyndham Inner Harbor Hotel, said the hotel is completely booked for the week as a result of the convention, which is expected to generate more than $41 million in direct spending.
“Any time you get 50,000 people into the city, it?s great for all of us in the entire city,” Phillips said.
He added that if the conventioneers have a positive experience and the city is able to handle the weeklong event, it could encourage interest from other large groups.
