"There are more than 40,000 people in the metro area and 130,000 people throughout the state who make their livelihood from conventions and tourists,'' he adds.
Dilbeck says travel tends to be an ''invisible'' industry because it is made up of so many small businesses.
"If Detroit was building a new automobile plant that was going to create 3,840 new jobs and generate more than $542 million in direct, indirect and induced spending in the local economy, you better believe there would be a lot of excitement about that in Detroit,'' Dilbeck explains. ''But when we do the exact same thing for Denver by expanding the Colorado Convention Center, people fail to make the same connection. They don't fully understand how the convention center business directly benefits them."
Dilbeck says convention delegates coming to Denver as a result of the expansion will pay an additional $10 million in city taxes every year -- taxes that don't have to be paid by residents.
"The new taxes generated by this expansion alone will be enough to pay for 100 police officers or firemen, or pay for 25 recreation centers for a year, or pay for all street resurfacing and patching for a year,'' Dilbeck says.
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