Urban scholars have long noted the importance of the convention business in the economic development of the downtown areas in U.S. cities. This article examines the decentralization of the convention business to Atlanta’s suburbs since 1980. The process of decentralization has resulted in a competition for meetings that pits one suburban convention submarket against another and against downtown in a multicentered metropolitan region. The spread of Atlanta’s convention business to the suburbs has implications for both scholars and practitioners.
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