Visit Baltimore - History

History

In 2004 BACVA launched a totally redesigned website. An major event for BACVA in 2004 occurred in May when they officially opened a totally new Baltimore Visitors Center which was radically different from the old visitors center which was inside an antiquated modified construction trailer. The new Baltimore Visitors Center is 8,000 square feet (740 m²) and is located next to the Light Street Pavilion of Harborplace and has a unique design.

The Baltimore Visitors Center cost $4.5 million to construct and is 8,000 square feet (700 m²) in size. In its first year of operation (May 7, 2004 – May 7, 2005), the Baltimore Visitors Center attracted nearly 390,000 visitors, which exceeded BACVA's original estimate of 250,000. Visitors to the Baltimore Visitors Center in its first year of operation, booked 422 hotel rooms, worth $48,296 and bought 14,942 tickets worth about $223,286.

Inside the Baltimore Visitors Center are racks of brochures with information ranging from Baltimore's neighborhoods to major attractions, including the Maryland Science Center, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Power Plant Live!, Camden Yards Sports Complex, and Geppi's Entertainment Museum. There is also a 50-seat theater that shows an 11-minute film on Baltimore and Maryland.

In 2005, BACVA made a joint effort with the Baltimore Development Corporation to pitch a controversial $305 million, 752-room Hilton Hotel to the Baltimore City Council in an attempt to bring in more conventions to the Baltimore Convention Center. In 2006, BACVA succeeded in its joint effort with the BDC to have a Hilton Hotel built directly adjacent to the Baltimore Convention Center. The hotel officially opened in August 2008 with a direct connection to the Baltimore Convention Center via elevated skybridge crossing Howard Street.

In 2009, BACVA made a decision at their annual meeting to change its name from the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association to Visit Baltimore to make it more easier for the public to recognize Baltimore's tourism agency and that it followed a industry standard at the time of having tourism agencies have a name that reflect their mission.

Since the 2005-2008 efforts to bring in more conventions by having the Hilton Baltimore built at a cost of $305 million making it the most expensive public works project in city history was basically a failure and the city is still losing convention business and is struggling to find more business "Baltimore convention business is crunched for space. City faces stiff competition from surrounding cities". September 19, 2012. http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/print-edition/2012/09/14/convention-crunch.html?page=all. Retrieved October 23, 2012., Visit Baltimore is now supporting an estimated $900 million proposal floated by the Greater Baltimore Committee and local businessman and the current owner of the Sheraton Inner Harbor hotel in early 2011 that would build a brand new 18,500 seat arena to replace the 1st Mariner Arena, a brand new 500 room hotel to replace the Sheraton and demolishing and rebuilding the east-half of the Baltimore Convention Center as an expansion of the more newer, 1996-half. The hotel and arena would be funded by private-sector money while the convention center expansion would be funded by public money, it's unknown what the current breakdown of costs will be as that will be determined by a second study to be conducted soon that will continue to see if construction of the entire project is feasible and exactly how much would the project cost the city and state potentially and what the next steps will be. "1st Mariner Arena turns 50 amid calls for its replacement. Financing still being sought for replacement arena project". October 22, 2012. http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-arena-at-fifty-20121022,0,4954476,print.story. Retrieved October 23, 2012.