Are sprawling convention centers worth the money cities need to spend on them?

It was a big question during the pandemic as cavernous meeting rooms sat empty, and it remains one even now that business travel is back.

In fact, companies are pulling back on spending on annual conferences and fewer people are attending them. Despite a vigorous post-pandemic rebound, companies are cutting travel costs, remote gatherings are becoming more standard and the corporate world is increasingly conscious of how travel contributes to climate change.

“The travel pent-up demand that we saw in 2023 seems to be all but gone now,” said Miguel Neves, editor of Skift Meetings, a trade publication.

Still, cities continue betting on convention centers because securing a large gathering, like the annual meeting for the American Heart Association, is seen as a way to draw tourism dollars and spending for the local economy.

But the evidence of economic benefit remains uncertain, and most of the 175 convention centers across the country operate at a loss, said Robin Hunden, founder and chief executive of the development consulting firm Hunden Partners in Chicago.