Cancellations hit Charlotte Convention Center as new coronavirus continues to spread
With seven reported cases of the new strain of coronavirus in North Carolina, the Charlotte Convention Center — which generated $17 million in revenue in fiscal year 2019 — is starting to see event cancellations.
Mecklenburg County still has no reported cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
But two of seven conventions scheduled for March and April have already canceled or postponed their events in the convention center.
SNAXPO20, an international snack industry convention, was scheduled for March 22-24, but that event has been canceled, The Charlotte Ledger first reported.
Snac International CEO Elizabeth Avery said in a statement the Virginia-based trade association, which operates the convention, is looking into “all possible options,” including rescheduling the convention this year.
Another Charlotte Convention Center event, Electrification 2020, announced it would postpone the Electric Power Research Institute Convention. Event spokesman Donald Cutler told the Observer that Electrification 2020 is hoping to reschedule the event in 2021.
“It’s really out of an abundance of caution,” Cutler said.
Cutler said Electrification 2020 was expected to draw about 2,000 attendees.
Empty seats
The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which operates the convention center, is working with organizations to reschedule events as needed, spokeswoman Karen Brand told the Observer in an email.
But even events held as scheduled in the convention center are seeing empty seats, according to attendees.
Several people at the 2020 Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference with the National Business Aviation Association said this week they were told some exhibitors and attendees dropped out of the conference.
National Business Aviation Association officials were not immediately available to comment.
Visitors to the Charlotte area spend $7.4 billion annually, according to a statement from the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. The organization did not immediately say how much revenue conventions generate on average.
The convention center is undergoing increased cleaning, with extra attention to “high-touch areas,” like escalator and stair rails and elevator buttons, the CRVA said in a statement.
And the group has ordered more sanitizer stations and more soap and sanitizer supplies. An infection control expert is completing an assessment of CRVA facilities, the organization said in a statement.
It makes sense to be cautious — five of North Carolina’s seven cases of COVID-19 were likely spread at a convention in Boston, the state announced Monday.
Those five people tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the same Biogen biotech corporate conference in Boston last month, The News & Observer reported.
Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said Monday that officials aren’t recommending canceling events at this point.
The state hasn’t seen “community transmission” of the virus yet, she said. That means each of the coronavirus cases in North Carolina were isolated ones with an identified origin.
‘Better safe than sorry’
Charlotte City Council member Ed Driggs said he’ll be asking the CRVA to recap cancellations at the Charlotte Convention Center due to the coronavirus outbreak, as well as the economic impact on local businesses.
“But I think our main priority as City Council is going to be the health side,” Driggs said Wednesday. “This is a rapidly unfolding situation. Nobody is sure how long this siege we’re under may continue.”
It is too early to know, Driggs said, if Charlotte may impose restrictions on public transit or gatherings, such as City Council meetings.
City Council member Malcolm Graham said Charlotte residents should take coronavirus threats seriously — but not overreact as more cases are reported in North Carolina.
“We must follow the instructions coming from the governor and local health officials,” Graham said. “There’s a scenario of being better safe than sorry — we’re just encouraging everyone to be safe … and use common-sense approaches as far as public gatherings.”
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