Six years after successfully hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City and Park City are not content to rest on their laurels. Both cities are continuing to polish their appeal for groups large and small with a growing array of world-class accommodations, venues and things to see and do.
While world famous for winter sports, the region can be a surprise to first-time visitors who may not expect to encounter such a rich diversity of
historic attractions, fine-dining restaurants and cultural entertainment that makes the area a great year-round site for meetings.
Of course, all this doesn’t mean that the region can’t crow a little about its Olympics legacy.
“The Olympics made a big difference for us and it’s still part of our sales strategy,” says Scott Beck, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City CVB. “We’re now at the adult table during Thanksgiving. People take us seriously because they know we can handle a big event.”
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City’s urban side is fast becoming a match for its magnificent natural surroundings of snow-capped mountain peaks, deep canyons and salt-encrusted desert. The city boasts a newly expanded convention center, a healthy supply of recently renovated hotel rooms and dozens of new restaurants, nightspots and off-site venues.
Beck notes that some $2.3 billion worth of revitalization projects currently in progress in the downtown area are making the city more appealing for visitors and locals alike.
“Three entire blocks are under redevelopment, including the transformation of the old Crossroads Mall into City Creek Center, which will have offices, 950 residences, restaurants, and shopping,” he says. “This urban element is very important to convention delegates. Just like other tourists, they want sophisticated shopping and dining.”
The expansion of the Salt Palace convention center in August 2006, which left it with a total of 515,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, has already proved to be a boon for the city, he adds.
“We expanded the Salt Palace primarily to retain our largest client, the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, but it’s had other benefits,” Beck says. “Between June 1 and Aug. 16 last summer, we hosted 110,000 delegates in the city, including 17,000 with Rotary International.”
Aside from the Salt Palace Convention Center and other large venues such as the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy, planners can take advantage of several downtown properties with meeting facilities, including The Grand America Hotel, with 80,000 square feet of function space; its sister property, Little America Hotel; Hilton Salt Lake City Center; Marriott Salt Lake City Downtown; Marriott Salt Lake City–City Center; Sheraton City Centre; and Salt Lake Plaza Hotel at Temple Square.
Just outside of the city, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort is an IACC-certified facility with several conference venues, and Solitude Mountain Resort offers facilities for groups of up to 350 people.
Value and accessibility are other reasons for meeting in Salt Lake, according to Beck, who says the fact that the city is Delta Air Lines’ second-largest hub after Atlanta means “that you can get here from just about anywhere nonstop.”
While summer and winter are both fairly busy times for the city, Beck says planners will find plenty of flexibility for space and rates during most times of year, particularly in November and December and from April to mid-May.
“As first-tier cities get more expensive, we provide relief for groups,” Beck says.
New off-site venues that are a big hit with groups include The Depot, a downtown live music venue with versatile capabilities for events of up to 1,200 people.
“We do parties with private concerts there, but it’s also great for presentations and events with keynote speakers,” says Troy Rushton, vice president of destinations, meeting and travel services for Western Leisure, a Salt Lake City-based DMC. “It’s got great audiovisual already there. In fact, the presidential candidates are using it when they come through here.”
Another new high-energy venue that Rushton favors is the Miller Motorsports Park, which offers automotive activities that include driving go-karts and Mustang GTs on a racetrack. A variety of technology-equipped meeting areas are available for everything from new product launches to board meetings.
One of Salt Lake City’s most popular venues is proving to be the new Salt Lake City Public Library, a striking facility with a soaring atrium, a 300-seat auditorium and a rooftop garden that was recently named Library of the Year by Library Journal.
“We do a lot of outdoor events in the library courtyard, which is surrounded by stunning architecture,” Beck says.
Cultural activities for groups in Salt Lake City include the chance to see and hear the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
“On Sunday mornings groups can be in the audience as the choir does its weekly broadcast from the Mormon Tabernacle,” says LeAnn Bird, vice president of events for Meetings America, a local DMC. “On Thursday nights, we can arrange for them to sit in on a rehearsal.”
Another only-in-Salt-Lake cultural experience is a visit to Peter Prier & Sons Violins, one of only four factories in the world where violins are made by hand.
“Groups see how these exquisite instruments are made and then they can hear a short violin concert, sometimes by Peter Prier,” Bird says.
Park City
Only a half-hour’s drive from Salt Lake City, Park City is a sophisticated all-season resort town with plenty of arts, culture, fine dining, and nightlife thrown into the mix. The town is equally known for its winter sports amenities and for serving as headquarters for the annual Sundance Film Festival held in January every year.
Both the ski season and Sundance Film Festival make Park City an especially popular destination in winter. However, if groups book early enough they can be accommodated during busy times, according to Ashley Andersen, meetings and conventions sales and marketing manager for the Park City CVB.
“The weekend before or the last weekend during the Sundance festival are good times for groups to at least get a taste of what happens when Hollywood converges on a small town,” she says.
Far from the off-season, summer has plenty going for it, she adds, including great weather, a full range of outdoor activities and close to 50 outdoor concerts held throughout the town and at the nearby resorts.
“Once people experience the summers here, they want to come back,” Andersen says.
Park City’s charming Main Street, filled with an eclectic assortment of restaurants, bars and shops, is an ideal setting for dine-arounds and progressive dinners, says Western Leisure’s Rushton.
“Park City really has world-class cuisine,” Rushton says. “People are surprised when they get here—they think they’re going to find mac and cheese and green Jell-O.”
Park City’s vibrant arts scene is the focus of many group events, including those that combine receptions at the Kimball Arts Center with tours of local galleries. The Kimball Arts Center, which can host up to 300 people for an event, offers several galleries of its own and has an on-site meetings coordinator.
Another popular venue is the Utah Olympic Park, which has evolved into a four-season training facility that welcomes groups for meetings, events and high-energy team-building programs. The venue also features the Alf Engen Ski Museum and the 2002 Games exhibit.
Park City, which currently offers over 3,000 committable rooms for groups, has three resorts with meetings-oriented hotels within five miles of each other: The Canyons, Park City Resort and Deer Valley Resort.
Park City’s largest meetings property is The Canyons Grand Summit Hotel at The Canyons Resort, which comfortably accommodates groups of up to 400 people. The Canyons Resort recently completed a $10 million renovation and opened the 220-unit Silverado Lodge in January.
Deer Valley, which offers a condo-hotel complex with meeting facilities called the Lodges at Deer Valley, is the site of two luxury hotels under development: the St. Regis Resort and Residences Deer Crest and the Montage Resort.
Park City’s other top meetings-oriented properties include the Park City Marriott; Hotel Park City; Red Stag Lodge; Stein Eriksen Lodge; Prospector Square Lodging and Conference Center; Treasure Mountain Inn and Conference Center; Chateaux at Silver Lake; and Yarrow Resort Hotel and Conference Center.
Just south of Park City in Midway is the Swiss-inspired Zermatt Resort and Spa, a Dolce International property that opened last year, as well as the Homestead Resort.
For More Info
Salt Lake CVB 801.521.2822
www.visitsaltlake.com
Park City CVB 435.649.6100
www.parkcitymeetings.com
