Charlotte spent more than $64K on City Council Germany trip. How did they spend it?
Charlotte spent more than $64,000 to send a delegation of City Council members and staff to Germany in 2024 for an economic development trip that coincided with a Carolina Panthers game in Munich.
The city revealed the final price tag for the November trip Wednesday: $64,488.86.
The majority of the City Council — Mayor Pro Tem Dante Anderson and Council members Ed Driggs, Marjorie Molina, Tariq Bokhari, Malcolm Graham, LaWana Mayfield and Victoria Watlington — made the trip alongside six city staff members, according to the new information provided by the city in response to a public records request. The city paid for everyone’s lodging and most other expenses, though Bokhari “declined out-of-pocket reimbursements.”
The trip also included representatives from Mecklenburg County, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
Those involved touted the trip as an opportunity to recruit and retain German businesses with a presence in the Charlotte area. A total of 215 German companies have nearly 20,000 employees in the Charlotte area, the CLT Alliance said in a report released ahead of the trip, the most of any foreign country.
“Charlotte and North Carolinas have strong ties to Germany, and this was an opportunity to strengthen existing relationships and build new relationships,” city spokesman Lawrence Corley said in a statement.
What did Germany trip cost?
The majority of the city’s spending for the trip went towards airline tickets and hotel accommodations for the seven City Council members and six city staffers who traveled to Germany.
Charlotte paid for every member of the delegation’s hotel stay at a cost of $39,643.32. An itinerary for the trip previously provided by the city listed hotel options as the Platzl Hotel, a 4-star hotel, or Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, a 5-star hotel.
The city reimbursed the group between $631.21 and $1,558.51 per person for plane tickets and airline fees, for a total of $12,796.82 in airline costs. Only Bokhari wasn’t reimbursed for a plane ticket, according to the latest information provided by the city.
Corley said previously flights would be reimbursed “at no more than the main cabin coach fare rate.”
Council members and staff were also reimbursed for airport parking, rideshares, taxis and public transportation passes and provided a per diem.
The city spent $1,070.75 on food for a networking reception, $1,000 on promotion, $222.55 on “protocol gifts” and $853 on tickets to the Panthers game for “business recruitment prospects.”
Council members paid for their own game tickets, according to the information provided by the city.
Mecklenburg County expected to pay approximately $12,000 for its two-person delegation, a county spokesperson previously told the Observer.
What did Charlotte leaders do in Germany?
Charlotte’s delegation was on the ground in Germany for three to six days, according to an itinerary previously shared by the city.
Their schedule included “expert exchanges” with Munich city staff and officials to discuss economic development, affordable housing, mobility and strategic planning as well as a business recruitment seminar, a transit tour and multiple receptions with NFL, business and government leaders.
The group also attended the Panthers’ game vs. the New York Giants at Allianz Arena in Munich, which Carolina won in overtime.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 11:25 AM.
