On Wednesday, Comic-Con's 44th annual pop-culture festival started. San Diego's town center streets were again filled with aliens, pirates, superheroes, time travellers and zombies.
San Diego Convention Center was bursting at the seams with guests. Everyone was reported to be excited to obtain freebies and purchase limited-edition collectibles.
"It's totally worth it," James Chen, a 22-year-old fan, said. Chen wore a pink Dragon Ball Z headset which he collected on the show floor. "I just bought this scouter, and I've had 10 people ask me where I got it. That doesn't happen anywhere else in the world."
A newly made survey revealed that Comic-Con brought US$163 million every year for San Diego. The event which lasts for more than four days boosted the earnings of hotels, restaurants and transportation systems. Last year, the convention was able to attract 150,000 guests who all made reservations in 40,000 hotel rooms. The income of hotels accounted for up to US$30 million proceeds for the city. Analysts said that if every guest spent a minimum of US$35 on a single floor in the convention, an additional US$4.8 million would be yielded.
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