Despite assurances from Outdoor Retailer’s organizers that the show will leave Utah beginning in 2018, Salt Lake City submitted an unsolicited bid to host the convention.
“We know political winds can change,” Scott Beck, Visit Salt Lake president and chief executive officer, told KSL.com said Thursday. “Since we don’t control political winds, we know it’s in the best interest of (Salt Lake City) to be prepared.”
The Visit Salt Lake board, including Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, met Monday to review the bid. The bid contains commitments from the Salt Palace Convention Center, hotel groups and other involved in conventions. At least 20 other cities are also bidding, according to the report.
Emerald Expositions, the company that owns Outdoor Retailer, has said the bid process is confidential and had declined further comment.
