For over 50 years, San Diego’s Comic Convention has been a source of significant income for the coastal city. The massive convention has enjoyed an incredible turnout every year and has only become more crowded as nerd culture has become more mainstream. But Comic-Con International and attendees have become increasingly concerned about the price hiking from hotels in the area. Enough that CCI is considering leaving it behind as their venue if it gets worse.
David Glanzer, Chief Communication and Strategy Officer for Comic-Con International, considers the behavior of the hotel landscape unsustainable. Despite CCI negotiating with surrounding hotels to block out rooms with affordable pricing, the buildings are providing fewer and fewer rooms within those blocks. And significantly raising the prices of the rooms outside of them. The prices of those hotel rooms can be up to three times as high as normal, and that’s including smaller hotels and AirBnBs.
“We would never want to leave, but if push came to shove and it became untenable for us, it’s something that we would certainly have to look into,” Glazner said. “As event planners, we’re always contacted by different cities and it would be reckless for us to not at least acknowledge that.” CCI’s contract with the San Diego Convention Center expires in 2025, meaning they’d be free to shop around in cities with more friendly hotels.
“If attendees opt not to come because they can’t afford to stay at a hotel here, they’ll go to another convention. And if that starts to happen, the studios won’t be able to make as big an impact, and it becomes a downward spiral that no one wants to go down. If we can’t accommodate the people who want to attend the show then we’re in a pretty bad situation.”
The annual event takes place July 25th-28th, 2024. We’ll be covering the event live, so check back for all the updates.
