While the Midwest area that is home to Omaha and Lincoln, Neb., and Council Bluffs, Iowa, forms a region with commonalities that make it particularly attractive to meeting planners, namely affordability, plenty of meetings-equipped venues and a central location, each offers a unique setting for groups.
Situated on either side of the Missouri River, Omaha and Council Bluffs enjoy each other’s company and together provide the Greater Omaha area with a metropolitan meetings haven, and each brings its own flavor to the “neighborhood.” In Omaha, a recent growth spurt includes a bustling riverfront area that will soon change the city’s skyline, and in Council Bluffs, groups are invited to partake in casino action and historic attractions.
Lincoln, a delightful extension of Omaha and Council Bluffs located about an hour south, is both Nebraska’s capital city and its big-time college football town, as the Nebraska Cornhuskers are based here.
Omaha
With more than $2 billion invested over the past two years, Omaha is “certainly a city on the move,” according to Dana Markel, executive director of the Omaha CVB.
The grandest of its grand news is its pedestrian bridge project that will connect Omaha and Council Bluffs when it is finished in 2008.
“It will be architecturally unique—quite the landmark,” Markel says, explaining that the bridge will further enhance Omaha’s thriving riverfront area, where visitors already enjoy restaurants, shops, walking and biking trails, and free concerts during the summer. “The riverfront has become Omaha’s new gathering place, and the bridge will complement it and make it even more of an attraction.”
Scheduled to open this year is an entertainment section complete with an independent film theater, Film Streams, and Saddle Creek Records, an independent record label.
“This will be a new icon for our city,” Markel says of the duo.
Home to five Fortune 500 companies, Omaha has a strong corporate base and therefore welcomes national as well as many regional groups. Also on its roster of repeat business is a fair amount of NCAA sporting events.
“We’re excited about Omaha being chosen as a sporting destination,” Markel says, explaining that this distinction is in large part connected to the city’s flexibility. For the upcoming U.S. Olympic swim trials, for instance, the city will incorporate two portable pools. “We customize our city for each event; it’s very easy to book an event in Omaha, and we eliminate the red tape.”
Omaha’s layout, Markel points out, is quite appealing to planners, as the city’s main attractions and neighborhoods are all located within a 10-mile radius. This means, of course, that the Qwest Center Omaha Convention Center and Arena, featuring more than 250,000 square feet of function space and a 17,000-seat arena, isn’t far off from any area delegates might like to explore before or after the meeting.
“The Qwest Center is unique because it’s a convention center and arena under one roof,” Markel says, mentioning the venue’s recent expansion, which added seating for concerts, basketball and hockey events. “It’s a tremendous lure that introduces Omaha to both planners and concert-goers.”
Upcoming acts at the Qwest Center include Rod Stewart, Bob Seger and Billy Joel.
Omaha features several meetings-ready hotels, including the Hilton Omaha, which is connected to the Qwest Center, the Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, the Embassy Suites Hotel Omaha–Downtown/Old Market, the Holiday Inn Omaha Central Hotel and Convention Center, and the Omaha Marriott.
Omaha will also open a number of new hotels in the downtown area throughout 2007 and 2008, including a Hampton Inn and Suites; a Homewood Suites; a Fairfield Inn; a Holiday Inn and Suites; and a Residence Inn.
Situated 45 minutes south of Omaha in Nebraska City is the lovely 144-room Lied Lodge and Conference Center, with more than 14,000 square feet of function space, a variety of dining options and the Arnold Palmer-designed ArborLinks Golf Course.
Council Bluffs
Much like its neighbor across the river, Council Bluffs is also welcoming some new additions, according to Angela Halpin, director of convention and meetings marketing at the Council Bluffs CVB.
In January the Mid-America Center, which contains a convention center with 50,000 square feet of function space and a 30,000-square-foot arena, rolled out an all-purpose sports court, making it even more flexible for functions ranging from sporting events to trade shows. The Country Inn and Suites is connected to the center, and on track to open this spring is the 151-room Marriott Springhill Suites, which will be within walking distance of the convention center, the new Bass Pro Outdoor World and the newly renovated Horseshoe Council Bluffs, a Harrah’s casino property.
“The Mid-America Center and surrounding attractions make Council Bluffs a solid Midwest meetings contender,” Halpin says.
Among the city’s standout casinos are Horseshoe Council Bluffs, which is the closest to a Vegas-style venue but lacking meeting space, according to Halpin; and Harrah’s Council Bluffs and Ameristar Casino Hotel, which both offer hotel rooms and function space. Ameristar, in fact, is western Iowa’s only AAA Four Diamond recipient.
“We do a good job of mixing the old and the new in Council Bluffs,” Halpin says, citing the marriage of modern casinos and unique historic attractions.
Among the options are the city’s oldest park, Town Square; Squirrel Cage Jail, one of only three rotary-style jails left in the U.S., which served as the Pottawattamie Country Jail from 1885 until 1969; the Historic General Dodge House, which has a ballroom for group use; and the circa-1900 Bayliss Park Hall.
“It’s across the street from Bayliss Park, with beautiful Victorian decor,” Halpin says, describing gorgeous woodwork, rich colors and a variety of function space for groups.
With a nice selection of venues, Council Bluffs welcomes a good mix of meetings business, according to Halpin.
“We’re at the border of Iowa and Nebraska, so we especially see a lot of regional association and corporate groups,” she says.
Lincoln
Even if you’re visiting when the hottest ticket in town is sold out, as Nebraska Cornhusker football games at the University of Nebraska’s (UN) Memorial Stadium generally are, Katie Bruner, director of sales at the Lincoln CVB, attests that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“People are always out there scalping tickets before games,” she says, adding that tickets to a Lincoln Saltdogs baseball game at Haymarket Park are probably easier to secure.
“Still, the fact that the University of Nebraska is based here makes us unique,” Bruner says, citing two group-friendly facilities marked by Cornhusker history: the on-campus Bob Devaney Sports Center, named after a former UN football coach, and The Cornhusker, A Marriott Hotel. This 80-year-old Lincoln landmark, which offers more than 46,000 square feet of meeting space, recently renovated its 297 guest rooms.
The Embassy Suites Lincoln and the Holiday Inn Lincoln–Downtown are among the other meetings-friendly hotels in town.
Like the 13,500-seat Devaney Center, the 4,526-seat Pershing Center is a multipurpose facility. It welcomes both sporting events and various performances, including concerts and entertainers such as the Harlem Globetrotters.
Another Lincoln standby for the meetings market is the Lancaster Event Center, which was designed with year-round events in mind, ranging from trade shows to the annual Lancaster County Fair.
Despite all of these offerings, Bruner says Lincoln is in a research phase that could lead to the addition of a convention center/arena facility.
Regardless of that coming into play, planners recognize the city’s wonderful offerings, Bruner says, pointing to tours of the beautiful state capitol building; James Arthur Vineyards, which is located just outside of Lincoln and is available to host group receptions; and the happening downtown Historic Haymarket District.
“Most downtowns close up, but ours doesn’t,” Bruner says, recommending antique shopping, a bite to eat at either Fireworks or Lazlo’s Brewery and Grill, and a stop at Licorice International, where you bet they’ll be celebrating National Licorice Day on April 12.
“It’s wonderful,” she says. “They have group tours and 140 different licorices from 13 countries.”
For More Info
Council Bluffs CVB 712.325.1000
www.councilbluffsiowa.com
Lincoln CVB 402.434.5335
www.lincoln.org
Omaha CVB 402.444.4660
www.visitomaha.com
