The Branson Convention Center, which has been called a loss leader for the city and was projected to be in the red in 2015, is on track for positive profits this year for the first time since opening.
For the first three quarters of the year, the city-owned convention center recorded revenue of $3.6 million and earnings of $109,378, according to
data presented last night at the Branson Board of Aldermen’s meeting.
Last November, the board gave the green light to a budget projecting a 2015 net loss of $685,541 for the convention center. That projection was roughly on par with the center’s actual net loss in 2014.
As a loss leader, the convention center that’s connected to a Hilton hotel has offered a service that isn’t profitable but helps produce earnings elsewhere, according to
Investopedia.com. A 2011 study found the center’s economic impact was roughly $16 million.
The center has posted net losses every year since opening in August 2007, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
This year, however, the $109,378 net income through the third quarter is 117 percent above a net loss of $627,075 in the same three quarters of 2014, according to the Branson board’s agenda.
Its $3.6 million revenue so far this year is 40 percent ahead of the $2.6 million at the same time last year.
The third quarter itself was a boon for the convention center.
Revenue was $1.7 million for the three-month period, above the city’s budget of $1.5 million and last year’s $823,359 total. Net income was $463,257, above the $136,564 forecast and last year’s $197,647 net loss.
During the third quarter, the center played host to two large conventions for the Student Youth Travel Association and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Events brought in an estimated 12,352 people during the quarter.
The center, which is managed by West Conshohocken, Pa.-based SMG, also cemented new contracts during the third quarter, including 2016 events for Associated Wholesale Grocers and the MFA Oil Co., according to the report.
