The number of major meetings planned for the new Vancouver Convention Centre has plunged and remains far below the number used to justify the $883-million price tag, CTV News has learned.

Last year, the expanded centre hosted a record 28 citywide conventions, the large meetings that are booked many years in advance. But for 2012, that number has dropped to 22.

The next few years look even bleaker. Only 14 or 15 citywide conventions are booked each year in 2013 and 2014.

Paul Vallee of Tourism Vancouver says the decline can be linked to the economic downturn of 2008.

"You're starting to see some of that impact now because people were less inclined to book back then because they were uncertain about the economic situation," he told CTV News.

In an October 2000 report that was used to justify the convention centre expansion, 36 citywide conventions per year was considered a reasonable target. The business case suggested that the expansion would pay for itself in 11 years.

The old centre generated 395,000 delegate days per year, and the report predicted that would jump to 747,000 by 2009 with the expansion. In 2011, however, the centre saw just 475,000 delegate days.

NDP tourism critic Spencer Chandra Herbert says the government's gamble on the expansion isn't paying off.

"I think the Liberals sold us a bill of goods with the Convention Centre. Of course, you remember it doubled in price, more than doubled in the cost, and we're not even getting the visitors it needs to pay for itself," he said.

Still, Convention Centre spokeswoman Jinny Wu says the massive expansion was worth the cost.

"Without this large expanded facility, we'd be turning away many international conventions that bring in significant dollars to this province and this city," she said.

Tourism officials say the high Canadian dollar and the "Buy American" mentality of many big U.S. convention planners may also be to blame for the drop in conventions, and predict that business could pick up by 2015.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson