MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A report commissioned by Milwaukee’s tourism office and the city’s 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) host committee found the event generated more than $320 million in spending before and during the event.

The report, prepared by Tourism Economics for Visit Milwaukee, concluded the RNC spurred a total economic impact of $321.5 million.

That total figure includes $162.2 million in what authors called “convention operational spending,” which includes money spent to run the convention and ancillary events outside of Fiserv Forum. That spending included payroll, security, insurance, housing and other professional services.

The report found visitors spent a total of $54.1 million off-site across the Milwaukee area, including local hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.

That spending generated a total of $16.8 million in combined state and local taxes paid on expenses related to the convention.

The $321.5 million figure far exceeded the $200 million impact officials estimated the RNC would have.

Spending well beyond the estimated impact would likely come as a surprise to business operators like Gary Witt and Adam Siegel, who told CBS 58 last summer the RNC did not bring any traffic to their businesses, including Turner Hall, the Pabst Theater, and in Siegel’s case, Lupi and Iris.

According to the report, the industries that benefitted most from RNC-related spending included a wide-ranging category labeled “business services,” which raked in $73.4 million.

Financial, insurance and real estate businesses combined to bring in $61.2 million related to the event, while government agencies collected $50.6 million.

Lodging businesses made $39.7 million while food and beverage vendors took in $23.1 million.