Two years ago this month, the HIMSS Global Health & Exhibition sounded the first alarm in Orlando, abruptly canceling its four-day summit at the Orange County Convention Center amid growing concerns over COVID-19.
Disney and Universal would close their theme parks about 10 days later.
Today the virus is in retreat, the parks are crowded and HIMSS is back at the convention center. The gathering ends Friday.
“We’re enthusiastic about this next six months, about hopefully getting out of the cloud of COVID,” said Mark Tester, executive director of the Orange County Convention Center, which lost about 90 events to the pandemic. “I’m very optimistic about this community for the next two years.”
In 2020, HIMSS, short for Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, was set to bring an estimated 45,000 attendees to Orlando for its annual convention, highlighted by an appearance by then-President Donald Trump, who was on the campaign trail.
This week, the health care gathering is expected to bring about 26,000 visitors with a slate of educational programs, including talks by Xavier Becerra, the first Latino to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services; Joan Higginbotham, a former NASA astronaut; and gold-medal swimmer Michael Phelps.
The group held its 2021 convention in Las Vegas.
HIMSS is the Orange County Convention Center’s second big show in as many months.
The organization requires all attendees, exhibitors, speakers and staff to be fully vaccinated to enter the group’s convention space.
In February, 70,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors participated in Design & Construction Week, which combined the National Association of Home Builders International Builders’ Show and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, to form the largest convention in Central Florida since the pandemic began.
Tester said I-Drive restaurants were booked solid nightly from 4:30 to 9:45 p.m. during the three-day show.
“Every waiter, every bartender, every Uber driver in this area did extremely well,” he said.
In 2020, COVID fears forced 59 events to cancel shows that were expected to bring 612,000 visitors to the convention center.
Officials estimated the loss of economic impact at $1.3 billion.
In 2021, another 29 events were canceled — a loss of 406,000 visitors and an estimated $868 million in economic impact.
Revenues from the Tourist Development Tax, the county’s 6% levy on the cost of a hotel room, and home-sharing and short-term lodging options like Airbnb and VRBO, cratered in April 2020 bringing in less than $800,000, the worst month on record, county Comptroller Phil Diamond said.
That sector is on the rebound.
Revenues soared to $28.2 million in December, the highest December collection on record, and topped $22 million in January.
Casandra Matej, CEO of Visit Orlando, the tourism industry’s marketing arm, echoed Tester’s optimism.
“It doesn’t mean that there won’t be headwinds that may set us back a bit,” she said, mentioning higher gas prices, international instability caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and inflation as challenges for both tourism and convention business. “But we are expecting to have really good spring and summer seasons.”
Since July 2020, when the convention center reopened to host an AAU Volleyball championship, the complex on International Drive has hosted about 200 events, drawing 1.3 million visitors, who created an estimated economic impact of $2.2 million, according to county estimates.
For 2021-22, convention center officials expect to stage 140 events with 1.4 million attendees — an estimated $2.4 billion in impact.
So far, the venue has hosted 34 events and drawn about 305,000 visitors.
In May, the pop-culture convention MegaCon Orlando expects to attract 100,000 science fiction fans, many in costume.
But Heywood Sanders, who studies the convention industry, said officials should rein in their optimism.
He said the pandemic hurt an industry that had already plateaued.
Sanders, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said the homebuilders’ convention in Orlando last month was interesting but might not be the best example to illustrate the state of the convention business because “homebuilding has been going through the roof of late.”
Conventions may return, but more slowly.
“It may be trickling back,” he said. “But roaring back? No, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
shudak@orlandosentinel.com
