For cities, hosting political conventions can come with costs as well as revenue

Milwaukee's visitors bureau estimates the Republican National Convention is bringing $200 million to the city. But that doesn't include business lost due to the crowds.

The RNC continues in Milwaukee today, and it’s easy to see why the GOP chose that city in a crucial swing state to host its convention. What’s in it for Milwaukee, though?

Well, somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million in extra economic activity, according to the city’s visitor’s bureau. But playing host to national political conventions also comes with costs.

Since pre-convention meetings started last week, downtown has been buzzing, said Peggy Williams-Smith with the nonprofit Visit Milwaukee.

“We have people who are going to baseball games, we have people who are going to our restaurants, our bars,” she said. And they’ve been booking up nearly every hotel room in the city.

According to Williams-Smith, that $200 million estimate is based on what other cities have reported after hosting the RNC.

Those figures are likely inflated though, argued Victor Matheson, an economist at The College of the Holy Cross.

“It’s easy to get high numbers when you only add up the positives,” he said — like without accounting for the regular business that’s lost when locals stay in to dodge the traffic and tourists avoid the city altogether.

“It’s not just that it’s crowded,” Matheson said. “It’s also a particular type of crowding, right? This is a gigantic security event.”

So, while business booms within the RNC security perimeter, those on the outside might not see the benefits.

“It wouldn’t be advantageous to even attempt to serve that area,” said Travis Enders, who owns the mobile bartending service Tavern Team, which usually does about a third of its business in Milwaukee. “I pulled all marketing efforts out of Milwaukee during this week.”

Enders still got a few inquiries about serving at RNC events but had to turn them down. Right now, he said planning to maneuver in and out of downtown Milwaukee to provide timely service is just too risky.