Hamvention to boost Greene County economy by multi millions

By Dana SmithXENIA, Ohio (WDTN) – An amateur radio convention is expected to pump millions into the Greene County economy.

The event – known as Hamvention – is being held in Xenia for the first time, this up coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Kathleen Wright of the Greene County Convention & Visitors Bureau said event organizers are expecting more than 30,000 people to attend Hamvention.

That’s double the population of Xenia.

Wright said the county doesn’t have official figures for economic impact as the event has never been held in Greene County before, but in previous years, Hamvention has contributed millions.

“Hamvention have told us it’s an economic impact of about 14 million,” Wright said.

“Every hotel is filled… At night they’re going to be hitting the restaurants, they’re going to be gassing up their cars, they’re going to be – the people that are campers – they’re going to be out and about all over Xenia. So it’s going to be a big economic impact.”

Wright said hotel rooms in Greene County and in neighboring counties have seen spikes in occupancy.

She said one Xenia hotel sold out within four hours of the announcement that Hamvention is coming to town…..READ FULL ARTICLE