More people and more money will flow into Boston than previously expected as a historic NAACP Convention kicks off in Seaport this week, the city's nonprofit visitor's bureau said.
The nation’s oldest civil rights organization has returned to Boston for the first time since 1982. Plans for the city to host in 2020 were scrapped after the coronavirus pandemic halted nearly all in-person gatherings.
The rescheduled event kicked off Wednesday with high school students from across the country competing for scholarships at the Afro-Academic Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics. The main convention events begin Friday with closed-door directors' meetings and The Hub, a combined block party, career summit and happy hour open to the public for free.
The list of speakers includes a keynote by Vice President Kamala Harris, who will speak Saturday afternoon, as well as Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
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Meet Boston said it recently revised its estimate on total impact of the convention to $12.5 million, up from $10 million, a spokesperson said. The revision is partly due to the fact that more people than expected registered for the convention: nearly 7,000, up from the 5,000 predicted, a NAACP spokesperson said.
Previous estimates had also had not considered $375,000 the nonprofit spent to cap hotel prices in the neighborhood, a Meet Boston spokesperson said. A block of rooms was set aside for NAACP delegates at the Westin, Aloft, Element and Park Plaza hotels, among others, with a maximum rate of $209.
