If dealing with a seller’s market hasn’t become second nature by now, there’s a message within industry forecasts for 2008: Buck up and continue to work with it however you can. Industry numbers crunchers predict the tables won’t turn much in favor of buyers—even if a recession is on the way.
Budget-focused government, SMERF and other nonprofit groups in search of meet-and-sleep spaces are often priced out of cities like New York and Chicago, where hotel occupancies and room rates remain in the stratosphere or
close to it. Yet many second- and third-tier cities are not only still affordable, they are also better equipped with meetings facilities and services than ever.
When price considerations are uppermost, along with accessibility and a good infrastructure, the smart money is finding a variety of attractive destinations in today’s marketplace. Especially enticing are locations in close range of expensive first-tier metro centers.
Central Choices
With average daily room rates of $125 and $78, respectively, downtown Milwaukee and Rockford, Ill., give groups good economic reasons to look for a central U.S. location beyond Chicago’s core—where rates average well above $200.
Rockford lies about 60 miles west of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport “and a world away from gridlock,” says Carrie Skogsberg, spokeswoman for the Rockford Area CVB.
It also offers groups five major conference facilities with 100,000 square feet of collective meeting space in hotels such as Clock Tower Resort & Conference Center and Cliff Breakers Riverview & Conference Center, she adds. Rockford bills itself as a City of Gardens, Region of Four Rivers and home to enduring Midwestern values and hospitality.
Unique spaces like Anderson Japanese Gardens, where guests enjoy pond gardens, waterfalls, foliage, and a new restaurant, abound in Rockford. Another venue choice is Coronado Performing Arts Center, a fully restored 1927 movie theater that can accommodate up to 200 people on stage and over 2,000 people in theater seating.
Strong convention services are a strongsuit for Rockford as well.
“Our group services manager, Theresa Sellers, was recently named Customer Service Manager of the Year by ACOM (Association for Convention Operations Management),” Skogsberg says.
Milwaukee has affordability, a central U.S. location and a collection of new and upcoming amenities that often surprise anyone who hasn’t paid the city a call in recent years. Visitors and locals relish the city’s “green” features, including 22 miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan, an expanding 3.5-mile downtown riverwalk and parklands, all of which have helped revitalized a center city with an industrial past.
The city’s No. 1 attraction is the Potawatomi Bingo Casino. It will complete a $240 million expansion later this year to bring an additional 500,000 square feet of gaming space, two new restaurants, a center lounge, and a food court.
The casino is near the site of Milwaukee’s newest attraction, the Harley-Davidson Museum, which opens in late summer on 22 acres. The dramatic steel, glass and brick Harley building holds special interest for the meetings and events market—not just because of its exhibits, but also because of event spaces that can accommodate from 20 to 15,000 guests.
All of the museum’s indoor spaces are equipped with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment and feature floor-to-ceiling views of the Milwaukee skyline and Menomonee River. The museum will also offer green spaces equipped for live performances and accommodating thousands of people for picnics and other outdoor events.
According to Mia Brondyke, director of sales for VISIT Milwaukee, groups have yet another incentive to consider booking meetings in Milwaukee during 2008 and 2009.
“As an incentive to book business for either year, we will provide free space in the Midwest Airlines Center free of charge—if the program is for 2,000 total rooms or more,” she says.
Southern Alternatives
Affordable alternatives to large Southeastern cities include Hampton, Va., and Fayetteville, N.C.
For SMERF groups like her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Ruby Archie says Hampton is an excellent choice for meetings with tight budgets.
“Affordability is always a key factor for us,” Archie says. “Our ladies can’t pay very much, and Hampton gave us a $119 rate for our 2007 four-day annual meeting. We had nearly 2,000 members attend and used about seven hotels. We found Hampton to be ideal, not just because of the rate. They also gave us excellent service, the staff at all the hotels were cordial and kind and they made us feel welcome in their city.”
Besides reasonable room rates and the Hampton Roads Convention Center with 344,000 square feet of space, Hampton offers groups excellent accessibility by air and road for about 75 percent of the U.S. population. It is close to both Newport News/Williamsburg International and Norfolk International airports.
Also, attractions abound around Hampton. One of the newest is the Power Plant of Hampton Roads, a retail and entertainment complex on 110 acres with venues such as McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon and Saddle Ridge Rock N’ Country Saloon. Virginia Air & Space Center is opening a new $10 million expansion this spring, with several new attractions such as NASCAR Sports Grille.
With an average daily room rate of just $60, Fayetteville has affordability and more going for it as a meetings site. Runzheimer’s Travel Management Network named the city, which is located just off Interstate 95 and within easy driving distance of both Atlanta and Charlotte, the fifth most affordable destination for business travel in the South.
“We are a high value destination,” says John Meroski, president and CEO of the Fayetteville CVB, “because groups get the big city amenities and a tight focus from the community. When business groups come to us, they often make the front page of the local newspaper, and get lots of other special attention from both the community and our bureau.”
Major meeting facilities in Fayetteville include Crown Center, a complex with 107,000 square feet of meeting space, and Expo Center, with 60,000 square feet of meeting space. The 289-room Holiday Inn Bordeaux and 198-room Holiday Inn I-95 bring an additional 44,000 square feet of meeting space to the city’s portfolio.
Meroski says the bureau works hard to dispel misperceptions that Fayetteville is just a small North Carolina military town.
“We are actually the fourth-largest city in the state,” he says, “with plenty to offer buyers in the way of new facilities and services.”
As home to Fort Bragg and the famed 82nd Airborne Division, Special Operations Forces, and the U.S. Army Parachute Team, the city has a unique culture that Meroski says can give visitors a memorable experience.
“We do have a marketing challenge that comes with being a military town, but we’ve turned that around to make people realize how special this community is,” he says. “Fayetteville is the largest military installation in the U.S., and that means we live with the guys who defend our democracy and sacrifice themselves and their families.”
He adds that meeting groups often enjoy performances by the 82nd chorus, drill demonstrations, mess hall dinners, parachutist demonstrations, and other military events.
“We work hand in hand with military marketing people to give visitors a piece of what this community is about,” Meroski says.
Eastern Options
Areas that offer both affordability and proximity to first-tier cities with bigger price tags can also be found in the Northeast.
Good deals, including room rates about half of those of nearby Boston, come with early American history and New England charm in Essex County, also known as the North of Boston region. Sophisticated seaside towns like Salem, the yachting capital of Marblehead, and Gloucester, the oldest seaport in the country, offer unique cultural amenities and plenty of other attractions for meetings.
Susan Middleton Campbell, convention sales manager for North of Boston CVB, says everything her region offers is about a 45-minute rail, ferry, or shuttle ride from Boston.
“We are an affordable alternative to downtown Boston, and once people get here, they love what they find—beaches, parks, restaurants, heritage, and sports like yachting and sailing,” she says. “Also, we have truly unique event venues like the Peabody Essex Museum, with its upscale architecture and collections of maritime and Asian artifacts. It can host up to 600 for events, indoors and out.”
Hotels, including the 367-room Sheraton Ferncroft with 30,000 square feet of meeting space, inns and B&Bs are part of the local draw, too, she adds.
Valley Forge, home of Valley Forge National Historical Park, where George Washington and his Continental Army encamped during the winter of 1777-’78, is about a 30-minute drive from downtown Philadelphia. That makes it accessible to a big chunk of the American population from the mid-Atlantic to New England.
Its leafy green topography near the Pennsylvania Turnpike is equipped with a collection of IACC-approved conference centers. Hotel rates average around $120, and parking is free at Valley Forge properties. Rail and bus transportation give easy access to Philadelphia.
Pharmaceutical and high-tech companies are often in residence, says Paul Decker, president of the Valley Forge CVB. He adds that local hotels, which have an inventory of about 7,500 rooms, are experiencing healthy occupancy levels.
“These companies are always bringing in people for training, so there is competition for both space and price right now,” he says, but adds that things could quickly change with tomorrow’s headlines or an economic downturn.
“What I advise planners to do now is bring in multiple pieces of business or maybe three instead of two-night bookings. That way, they can likely get a better deal,” Decker says.
