Eight years ago,  the Chesapeake Bay Convention Center was built as part of a brand new Hyatt Regency hotel along the banks of the Choptank River in the city of Cambridge.

The complex includes a marina and golf course, obviously an effort to attract more visitors and tourists to the hotel and surrounding region. Dorchester County hoped the new facility would be a major shot in the arm to the region’s economy. It hasn’t worked out that way, at least not recently.

According to the Maryland Reporter, the convention center/hotel  did not generate enough revenue to cover its costs in the year that ended last summer.  Documents from the Maryland Economic Development Corporation show the complex lost nearly $400,000 in FY 2009.

The Maryland Economic Development Corporation originally fronted the developers bond money to support construction and says that the complex still has millions of dollars to support it, despite the losses.

While there’s probably no reason to panic over the subpar economic performance of one convention center in the region, these are the kind of issues that need to be considered by anyone studying the Chesapeake Bay.  Tourism related to the bay is a lynchpin of the region’s economy.

Anne Arundel County, for instance, says that over 30,000 jobs in its area alone rely on the tourism industry, which accounted for $1.8 billion in spending in FY 2006.

The Chesapeake Bay is a driving force in how many people visit the region and how much money they spend.  So while one facility’s financial shortfalls in a single year may not be a reason to freak out, it’s worth considering that continuing declines in the health of the bay could cause tourism numbers to keep falling, too.