Built it, and They Will Come, Part II

Build it, and they will come, I suggested. And, now, I will defend that view.

For I do believe it would be good to add all the hotel rooms necessary and expand the convention space so the nation's largest conventions can be held in Salt Lake City.

But, what a foolish thing, you say, to build hotel rooms and convention space that will be used but maybe twice a year, a colossol waste of space, money and resources, foolish to no end.

I would say, in reply, that it is private business people who would be asked to take on the project, and if it so be that they want to "waste" their money, who are you to tell them to spend more frugally? Let a person spend their money on what they will, and if they think this is a good cause, let them undertake it.

A better approach against my suggestion is to note that even if Salt Lake City were to add massively to its hotel space, and to its convention space, and thus win some of the nation's bigger conventions, it would only be a matter of time before other cities would step forward to also built more and more and more.

An arms race, of sorts.

The city that wins would be the city that has a natural tourist base, perhaps, a Miami with its beaches or Las Vegas with its night life  . . .

Or, a Salt Lake City with its nearby mountains to hike in and ski on. We might, indeed, have something to offer.

It is true that come a bad snow year, much of our tourist appeal is lost, but conventioners would be coming for the conventions, having multi-year contracts, and would come through the lean years and still enjoy the snow years.

The best argument against this idea, is that we would be building a reliance on convention tourism that might be swept away when the conventioner suddenly selected another city. Seeking a diversity of sites, most every convention might rotate along to another city sooner or later.

But, by the same logic, they would also be rotating out of other cities and coming here.

I say, built. Nothing is for certain. Few ventures are without the possibility of failure. Build. Embrace the possibility and success and work to keep the conventioners when they do come.

And, I tell you this: Salt Lake City, which proudly hosted the 2002 Olympics, can continue to work for things that bring people to our city, people from all every clime of the earth. I think it a good thing to dream to become more such a city, and to make it happen.