Pensacon 2016 is in the books and by most accounts, this growing event is becoming a crucial shot in the arm for the Pensacola metro area's tourism shoulder season.

The pop culture convention had something for everyone, from comic book and sci-fi fans to reunions of the casts of cult films "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and "Mallrats."

Dr. Rick Harper, associate vice president at the University of West Florida, told WUWF's Sandra Averhart that Pensacon is good fun for fans — and great for the local economy.

“It’s a super event, both thematically - a lot of fun for Pensacola - and it’s also a great event from the tourism perspective, because for us the tough thing is to fill up during the winter trough,” Harper said.

Pensacon is also expanding in its third year, adding the historic Rex Theatre to its list of venues, which also includes the Pensacola Bay Center, the Saenger Theatre and the Crown Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel.

At least 15,000 people attended Pensacon during its first year, a number that grew to about 20,000 last year, Harper said.  The number of Pensacon attendees should continue to climb this year, he said.

“The sponsors have estimated that it was a one and a half million dollar economic impact in year one, that grew to almost 4 million (dollars) in year two and so it will be fascinating to see what it is, and certainly the downtown merchants appreciate that economic impact,” Harper said.

Pensacon also fills a void for Pensacola during the shoulder season for tourism.

“Who doesn’t want to come to Florida in February?” Harper said. “And so, it’s very important in doing the critical task of getting events here that don’t rely on the kids being out of school and the family going to the beach.”

Harper and Averhart also talked about jobless claims and whether OPEC action would impact gasoline prices. Click here to read more.