GalaxyCon, the Raleigh Convention Center’s largest event, generates $8.5 million+

Superheroes, comic book characters, extraterrestrials and celebrities were not the only things that GalaxyCon brough to Raleigh last weekend. The four-day event also increased the city’s foot traffic and revenue.

Held Thursday through Sunday, July 27-30, more than 50,000 people attended the convention, said Jessica Holt, director of public relations and international tourism at the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.

That number was up from the 42,500 people who came to GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2022, according to a public relations representative for GalaxyCon. Not only was this the convention’s largest year to date, but GalaxyCon is also the biggest event the Raleigh Convention Center hosts, with the exception of annual commencement ceremonies.

GalaxyCon is a “festival of fandom” where fans celebrate comic books, pop culture, science fiction, fantasy, anime, gaming, cosplay and more, according to the event’s website. The convention features celebrities, artists, writers, voice actors, cosplayers, entertainers, creators, wrestlers, fan groups and panelists.

Celebrities who made appearances included Raleigh native and Cowboy in the Village People, Randy Jones; singer and dancer Paula Abdul; Shameik Moore, voice of Miles Morales in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse”; actor Christopher Lloyd; and multiple members of the cast of “Star Trek.”

Holt said while the Visitors Bureau will not be able to calculate the exact economic impact of the event until the ticket information becomes available, the pre-event projected economic impact was over $8.5 million. To make that projection, the Visitors Bureau used the Destinations International Event Impact Calculator, which is a tool designed to measure the effects events have on business, employment, income and taxes, according to Holt.

“Over the next few weeks, if we get ticket data from the event organizers, we can calculate the full post-event impact,” she said. “The spending of Wake County residents is excluded from these calculations, as the basis of tourism economic impact is to track new money into the local economy, not the circulation of local money.”

Max Houseworth, the general manager of the Residence Inn Raleigh Downtown, said the hotel’s 175 rooms were sold out Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and that the event generated a total of 615 room nights from Thursday through Sunday. At this time in July the hotel usually has an occupancy rate of around 75% to 80%, he said.

“Of course, this was a way for us to sell, obviously, more rooms, and we were able to sell them at a higher rate than we normally would have,” Houseworth said.

The Residence Inn raised its rates by 20% to 25%, and the rooms sold out months in advance, he added.

Holt added that many anime-related businesses in North Raleigh reported that they saw spillover from the downtown convention, increasing their normal traffic.

Dana Bradley, a cashier at Anime Paradaisu on Hollyridge Drive, said the store saw an increase in sales during the convention. Nolan Wright, who works at the anime and manga store Animazed on Glenwood Avenue, said the store’s sales went up by around 100% during GalaxyCon.

Marc Robinson, operations manager of Animazed, said while only a few people in costume came into the store during the convention, most of the store’s visitors from the convention came because they knew Animazed sold merchandise that they could not find at the convention.

He said many of the store’s purchases during the convention were statues, in particular statues from the anime television series “Dragon Ball Z.”

Logan Barnette, general manager of the Jimmy John’s in downtown Raleigh, said not only did the store’s sales increase but he also saw a greater variety of characters ordering sandwiches than on a typical weekend. A group of spider-people, a man dressed as Michael Myers from the “Halloween” films and the Marvel superhero Daredevil all made appearances in the store, he said.

This story was originally published August 1, 2023 at 12:54 PM.