While disaster scenes of two traumatic hurricane seasons are gradually disappearing further into history, dynamic resort growth continues along parts of the Gulf of Mexico.
Much is happening to unscathed areas along the 1,700-mile coast—revitalizing downtowns, new and upgraded resorts, and room inventory added through new hotels off interstates.
LOUISIANA
New Orleans
The Big Easy continues to battle to return to the pre-Katrina days of 10 million annual visitors. Visitor numbers hit the 6 million mark last year, up from 3.7 million in 2006, according to a preliminary estimate by the New Orleans Metropolitan CVB.
While hotel rooms in the metro area total 32,000 compared to the pre-Katrina total of 36,000, the CVB claims the city has more one-of-a-kind restaurants than ever, and daily airport departures are at 82 percent of the pre-Katrina number.
“We’ve always been known for our citywide conventions. What is new for us is the shorter-term corporate market, which we’ve gone after aggressively,” says Kelly Schulz, the CVB’s vice president, communications and public relations.
“Corporations are being drawn to New Orleans for the wealth of opportunities to volunteer and stay an extra day or half day to work” she says. She estimates that probably eight out of 10 association and corporate groups that come through the CVB help in the outlying areas to rebuild parks or homes with Habitat for Humanity.
Carlin Dinkler III, president of New Orleans-based Custom Conventions, also notes the trend.
“Companies have found volunteer work can be tremendous for team building,” he says. “Most are doing it. We even have some that send down a different group of people every few weeks. It’s unbelievable.”
According to Dinkler, business from citywide conventions is down for local DMCs, but improving corporate business is helping take up the slack.
“We’ve brought in many Fortune 500 companies, the type of business that tends to look at resorts in places like Phoenix. We didn’t have much of that business before. I think we’ve opened doors that will make us stronger,” he says.
While the CVB retained only 40 percent of meetings and conventions business for 2006, 70 percent remained for 2007 and over 90 percent for 2008.
The Morial Convention Center, which was fully open following a $60 million restoration completed in November 2006, projects that exhibit hall occupancy will be up 25 percent in 2008 and 51 percent in 2009 over 2007.
Two major damaged hotels, both under new ownership, are still closed: the Hyatt and the Fairmont. The Hyatt is expected to reopen in 2009 after renovation; the Fairmont will undergo a $100 million conversion to become a Waldorf=Astoria hotel.
Opened in 2006 were the first new post-Katrina hotels, the 450-room Harrah’s and the Ritz-Carlton, following a $100 million facelift. Last June, the Hilton St. Charles Hotel (formerly Hotel Monaco) reopened.
Hilton New Orleans Riverside is spending $66 million on renovations through this year, and Marriott New Orleans unveiled a new $6.5 million lobby and lobby restaurant in October as part of a $38 million renovation.
Pinnacle Entertainment expects to begin work on a $145 million expansion that includes a 200-room hotel and meeting space at its Boomtown New Orleans casino in Harvey.
Lake Charles
At the state’s western end, energy sector-driven Lake Charles has casino gaming as the big draw, followed by outdoor recreation of eco-tourism, hunting and fishing.
“Southwest Louisiana has made a tremendous comeback. We are back to where we were pre-storm if not stronger, and our accommodations are now better than ever,” says Shelley Johnson, executive director at the Southwest Louisiana CVB, which promotes Lake Charles and Calcasieu Parish.
She adds that with an expected 1,800 new rooms, including a new casino resort, coming on-line in the next two years, the destination will be even better suited for small meetings and convention sports groups.
The city has two waterfront casino hotels: Pinnacle Entertainment’s L’Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino, which opened with 28,000 square feet of meeting space in May 2005, and the 400-room Isle of Capri, which also has meeting space
In December, L’Auberge du Lac opened a new 250-guest-room tower addition, bringing its total number of rooms to almost 1,000.
And in the first quarter of this year, Pinnacle expects to begin construction on its second Lake Charles casino resort, the 400-room Caribbean-themed Sugarcane Bay, scheduled to open in mid 2009.
Baton Rouge
Pinnacle also plans to build a $250 million casino and hotel complex in East Baton Rouge, subject to a voter referendum this month.
Baton Rouge’s primary venue, the downtown River Center, almost doubled in size three years ago, and provides 200,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Adjacent is the 300-room Sheraton Baton Rouge Convention Center Hotel. Within walking distance is the historic 293-room Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center, which underwent a $70 million restoration.
Also adjacent to the Baton Rouge River Center is the Belle of Baton Rouge casino, both owned by Columbia Sussex Corp. Farther up river, across from the State Capitol complex, is the city’s other gaming riverboat, the 1,000-slot Hollywood Casino, formerly Casino Rouge, which completed an $8.5 million renovation and entertainment venue expansion last February.
MISSISSIPPI
With record-breaking gaming revenues reported, the 26-mile-long Mississippi Gulf Coast continues its post-Katrina revival.
Biloxi’s reopened and renovated Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center is scheduled for a $68 million, 200,000-square-foot expansion to be completed in 2009.
Work is also under way for an early 2010 opening of the new $704 million, 798-room Harrah’s Margaritaville Casino & Resort, which will include 66,000 square feet of meeting space.
Also, site preparation has begun for the $500 million, 638-suite Bacaran Bay Casino Resort, another of a handful of proposed megaresorts spurred by post-Katrina legislation allowing onshore casinos.
“Within three years we should more than double our meeting space in just three properties alone—the Coliseum, Harrah’s and Bacaran Bay,” says Janice Jones, spokesperson for the Mississippi Gulf Coast CVB.
The largest hotel meeting facilities are at the 1,740-room Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, which has 50,000 square feet of meeting space and reopened in August 2006 following a $750 million renovation. The 1,088-room IP Hotel and Casino (formerly the Imperial Palace), has a $100 million renovation and expansion under way.
The new Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with five restaurants and a 1,200-seat entertainment venue opened last July.
Susan Gaffney, owner of Dynamic Events, a local DMC, says casinos are now going more aggressively after meetings groups.
“We’re seeing an increase in groups and in larger groups. All the recreation—the golf and fishing—is available, but we lost so many museums and attractions. Instead of day tours, groups are volunteering working on homes and cleaning up parks. Most meetings are doing it. It’s quite incredible,” she says.
ALABAMA
Mobile
Mobile reached a milestone last year in waterfront revitalization, much of it adjacent to the 317,000-square-foot Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center.
Closed for 30 years and once Mobile’s top hotel, the 238-room Battle House was restored and reopened in May as part of the 39-story RSA Tower complex. In November the 375-room Riverview Plaza Hotel, connected to the convention center by skywalks, was reflagged a Renaissance hotel following a two-year, $64 million renovation.
There are now 1,200 rooms within walking distance of the convention center.
“It has all come together. Planners are now comfortable with booking. We get lots of SMERF business and we’re still a SMERF city but we’re now going after more corporate and regional and national association business,” says Leon Maisel, Mobile Bay CVB president and CEO.
Alabama Gulf Coast
Alabama’s Gulf Coast, which begins 80 miles southeast of Mobile and continues along 30 miles of white sand beach, includes the cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and 13,000 guest units.
The largest of a handful of meetings properties is the 347-room Peridido Beach Resort, which has 42,000 square feet of meeting space.
Almost all the coast’s accommodations were back by late 2005 after Hurricane Ivan damaged the coast.
According to Beth Gendler, sales director for the Alabama Gulf Coast CVB, 2007 was a record-breaking year in lodging revenues following a recovery year.
“The accommodations that reopened are more upscale. A number of attractions have been added, and there is more meeting space on the horizon,” she says.
The 300-unit Phoenix West condominium, slated to open late this year, will have 12,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Wharf, opened in phases on the Intracoastal Waterway in Orange Beach in 2006, features shopping, a boardwalk, a marina, a 10,200-seat amphitheater, and a 15-screen cinema. Further phases call for a 125-room hotel.
Also, construction is under way on a marine park, the first phase of Bama Bayou Resort & Convention Center, which will feature 68,000 square feet of meeting space.
FLORIDA
Pensacola
Pensacola had its best year ever in lodging revenues in 2007, according to Ed Schroeder, director of the Pensacola Area CVB director.
He attributes growth to an aggressive marketing plan, and greater awareness of what the community has to offer.
“Visitors experience the best of both worlds — a gorgeous beach and a quaint, historic city,” he says.
Guest rooms and meeting space continue to increase. New 2007 downtown arrivals were a 120-room Courtyard by Marriott and My Spayce, an 11,500-square-foot converted warehouse meeting and event facility.
At the beach, the Hilton Garden Inn became the 273-room Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front with an expansion that added 93 rooms and increased meeting space to 17,000 square feet.
A 140-room Cambria Suites with meeting space is expected to open in July near University Mall. And properties under construction or planned include an Indigo, an Embassy Suites, a TownePlace Suites, and a Days Inn.
Emerald Coast
To the east are the 24 miles of beaches of Okaloosa County—Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island—marketed by the Emerald Coast CVB and offering about 18,000 guest rooms.
While the destination is still 750 rooms short of its pre-Ivan number, new condo development is fast replenishing the inventory.
Opened last year were the 400-unit Palms of Destin Resort and Conference Center, which can accommodate meetings and events for up to 450, and the 281-unit Emerald Grande at HarborWalk Village, a 15-acre retail and resort complex in Destin Harbor.
East of Destin are the 26 miles of beaches of South Walton County. Its standout resort, Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, includes 72 holes of golf, nearly 100,000 square feet of meeting space and the 600-room Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa.
At the resort’s entrance, the first phase of the $250 million, 50-acre Grand Boulevard at Sandestin retail and restaurant complex began opening last spring. Two Marriott properties, a Courtyard and a Residence Inn, opened there in 2006.
Panama City Beach
In Panama City, work began last year on a new regional airport at West Bay. Slated to open in late 2009, the 100,000-square-foot facility will be able to handle larger aircraft.
The $250 million Emerald Beach Resort and Spa unveiled the first two of four towers last year. Each will have 260 suites and all four will be completed in 2009 along with 60,000 square feet of meeting space.
Tampa/St. Petersburg
Tampa, west coast Florida’s largest metro area, unveiled its new brand last September with a new logo and tag, a redesigned website and a new name for the Tampa Bay CVB,Tampa Bay & Company.
The city boasts the waterfront 650,000-square-foot Tampa Convention Center, connected to the 360-suite Embassy Suites Tampa–Downtown, which opened in fall 2006. The hotel brought the number of rooms within a four-block radius to 2,100 in five properties.
“The destination is so dynamic. We’ve added almost $1 billion worth of new development in the last five years, and are now undergoing a cultural renaissance,” says Norwood Smith, Tampa Bay & Company’s vice president of sales.
Punta Gorda/Charlotte Harbor
While sparing most of Charlotte County, including its beaches, Hurricane Charley destroyed much of Punta Gorda’s waterfront in 2004.
The 141-room Best Western Waterfront, the largest meetings hotel, reopened in November 2005 following renovations. But the Holiday Inn Harborside and the Memorial Coliseum, the town’s primary venue, were demolished.
The larger Charlotte Event & Conference Center opens on the Coliseum site late this year. It will have 43,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 19,500-square-foot multipurpose hall.
Fort Myers
Less than 30 minutes away are the Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel marketed by the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau.
The last of several resorts impacted by Charley, the South Seas Island Resort on Captiva Island, reopened in May 2006 after a $140 million facelift.
Downtown will get its first new hotel in two decades this summer with the opening of the new 62-room Hotel Indigo Fort Myers–Historic River District.
TEXAS
Beaumont and Port Arthur
Port Arthur, on the eastern end of the Texas Gulf, suffered damage from Hurricane Rita.
Last August, its Robert “Bob” Bowers Civic Center, which has a 20,000-square-foot exhibit hall, reopened after a $2.4 million renovation and reconstruction.
Tammy Kotzur, Port Arthur CVB executive director, says that the petrochemical industry that drives Port Arthur’s economy is booming and spurring development.
“Before Rita we had 777 rooms. We now have 940 and we expect to have 1,400 by the end of 2008,” she says.
Beaumont, 17 miles from Port Arthur and less than two hours from Houston on I-10, has more than 3,000 hotel rooms a downtown waterfront civic center and a 4-year-old major venue, Ford Park.
Its two convention hotels, the Holiday Inn Beaumont and MCM Elegante, both suffered damage from Rita and underwent major renovations in 2006.
“Basically, we have two new hotels,” says Dean Conwell, executive director of the Beaumont CVB.
