The National Restaurant Association expects the improving economy to push attendance at this year’s show ahead of the 2011 performance, its manager said Friday.
The high-profile show, which opens Saturday at McCormick Place, is on pace to surpass the 58,000 attendees at last year’s show, in spite of a change in dates to accommodate the NATO summit this month, said Mary Pat Heftman, the association’s executive vice president/convention.
“Restaurant sales are up,” she said, adding that a keynote speech by former President Bill Clinton on Sunday and appearances by celebrity chefs were expected to help attendance as well.
She declined to comment on whether the date change will affect attendance growth, saying there is no way to measure that. The organization gives attendance figures after the four-day show closes.
Registration is ahead of where it was at a similar point last year, “and we have a big weekend of registration, so we’re very positive,” she said.
And the show sold 5 percent more exhibit space this year, or about 540,000 square feet.
The city provided a one-time financial package aimed at offsetting any fall-off due to the schedule change. Sources had put the worth of the package at about $2 million.
Heftman declined to discuss the package but said published reports on its value were too high.
The organization increased advertising and promotion after negotiating the new dates, she said.
“This is a big weekend,” she said. “The city will be full, the restaurants will be full … there’s a lot of high energy.”
The show last year generated an estimated $93.3 million in direct spending locally, according to the city’s convention bureau. Heftman expects this year’s show will exceed that.
kbergen@tribune.com | twitter@kathy_bergen
