President Barack Obama will take center stage next week at the Phoenix Convention Center, where he will address a crowd of more than 12,000 veterans and their families during the VFW National Convention, the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau announced yesterday.
The convention, taking place Aug. 15-20, will host President Obama on Monday, Aug. 17. His first visit to the Phoenix area since May, when he gave the commencement address at Arizona State University in Tempe, the president will spend the weekend visiting some of the West's national parks, including Arizona's Grand Canyon. Monday's speech will be his first in downtown Phoenix, which is home to the newly expanded Phoenix Convention Center, a new light-rail transportation center and a new 1,000-room convention hotel.
"When the president visits an event like this, it brings international exposure to downtown Phoenix and the changes it's undergone over the last several years," Greater Phoenix CVB Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kevin Kamenzind said in a statement. "The president's appearance, and the scope of the VFW National Convention itself, is a testament to the convention center's capabilities."
The VFW National Convention is expected to generate $17 million in direct spending for the Phoenix economy.
"In these economic times, to have this kind of convention taking place in downtown Phoenix—especially in the middle of summer, which is our off-peak season—is a real coup for us and a big boon for our downtown hotels and restaurants," Kamenzind said.
Although it's a closed event, the VFW National Convention will broadcast live streaming video of the event online starting at 8 a.m. Aug. 17-20 at
www.vfw.org.