Since its 2002 grand Olympic fete, Salt Lake City has transformed into a major metropolitan center of the West.
The city has roughly $2 billion in construction projects in the planning stages in the central business district alone, as well as a population surge that will almost double the number of people living downtown by 2010.
The city’s many infrastructure improvements include an expanding light rail system, trax, which will soon add a line extending from the recently opened Intermodal Hub in downtown Salt Lake to Salt Lake City International Airport. The additional line is slated to open within a few years.
In 2006, the city also underwent a $58 million expansion of the Salt Palace Convention Center, which now boasts 679,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space.
“We continue over the years to become a bigger, more viable convention destination with more offerings,” says Mark White, vice president of the Salt Lake CVB. “Ten years ago we didn’t even have a convention center. Now we have one in the country’s top 12 percent in size.”
The city continues to grow. The biggest news is the City Creek Center development, funded largely by the Church of the Latter-day Saints, which upon completion in 2012 will encompass nearly 20 acres across three blocks in the heart of downtown. The cost will be from $1.5 billion to $2 billion, and the project will include three anchor retail outlets: Nordstrom, Dillard’s and Macy’s. Other parts of the project include residences, office buildings, boutique shops and restaurants. City Creek, which flows into the Great Salt Lake, will be brought above ground and act as a centerpiece to the development. During winter months, the development will be covered by a glass canopy and opened up in good weather.
Still, no matter how much of a metropolis Salt Lake City becomes, it will always be dwarfed by its own setting. The city sits in a large valley between two mountain ranges, the Wasatch on the east side and the Oquirrhs to the west. In winter, the snow falls on the slopes of its four world-class ski resorts—Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude.
“What makes us unique are a couple of things—one is the scenery, the mountains right next to the city provides a sense of place,” White says. “We’re not just another city that makes you feel good from a scenic and an emotional perspective, but we have an extremely high service ethic here. It’s not just people at the CVB, but the people who live here are generally really helpful. What impressed upon our citizens that conventions are important and fun was the 2002 games. Some 30,000 local people volunteered during the two weeks of the games, and that has carried over. When the locals see convention attendees walking around they get excited about it.”
White explains that the CVB goes the extra mile to accommodate citywide conventions with customized attendance campaigns, community campaigns and signage downtown and at the airport.
“There is a person on staff whose responsibility it is to get local and national exposure for convention groups,” White says.
Other downtown attractions include Temple Square, home to the Salt Lake Temple, which was constructed between 1853 and 1893. The Salt Lake Tabernacle, which hosts the renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is also located on the square, as are two visitor centers and an assembly hall. The choir rehearses every Thursday free of charge and also opens its Sunday live broadcasts to the public.
Groups can also visit the Family History Library, containing genealogical information on 1.5 billion people.
Meanwhile, a variety of other diversions await attendees. There are also over 20 art galleries downtown alone, and the city is a stopover for numerous Broadway shows as well as ethnic festivals throughout the year. Museums include the Chase Home Museum, which offers a unique view of contemporary Utah through the traditional arts of Indian tribes. The Grand Theatre provides fully staged productions with live orchestras, while the city’s Clark Planetarium and ATK IMAX theater are also open to groups.
Another off-site option is The Depot, a three-level music and entertainment venue built into the historic Union Pacific station at The Gateway. The Depot offers over 22,000 square feet of banquet space.
The McCune Mansion, originally built in 1900 and since restored, also hosts groups for dinners and cocktail parties.
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; Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown; Marriott Salt Lake City–City Center; Sheraton City Centre; and Salt Lake Plaza Hotel at Temple Square.
There are also a number of hotel projects in the works, including a Hyatt Place at Gateway due to open in late 2009 and several properties scheduled to open in 2010, including a Hotel Indigo, a Best Western, a Holiday Inn and a Staybridge Suites.
Park City
Long before Park City became a world-class mountain resort and venue for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, it was famous as a silver mining town. Today, the destination’s treasures include superstar ski resorts, the annual Sundance Film Festival and an active arts community.
“Park City is different than the rest of the state—you are in the mountains, and there are year-round activities a couple of minutes away,” says Ashley Andersen, meetings and conventions marketing and sales manager for the Park City Chamber of Commerce CVB. “You can ski, hike, bike, shop, visit art galleries—everything is right here.”
The Park City area now has three world-class resorts: Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley Resort and the Canyons Resort. In 2008, for a second year in a row, Deer Valley was ranked the top ski resort in North America by more than 20,000 subscribers of Ski Magazine.
“Winter sells itself; we don’t have to push that,” Andersen notes. “But we are happy to have people any time of year.”
In summer, the resorts offer everything from day hikes to hot-air ballooning. One of the most popular outings for groups is Utah Olympic Park, which has evolved into a four-season training facility that welcomes groups for meetings, events and team-building programs. The venue also features the Alf Engen Ski Museum and the 2002 Games exhibit.
Other off-site venues include the Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theater, one of only two Egyptian Revival-style buildings in Utah. The 266-seat auditorium is home to theatrical performances and a variety of other events and is the symbol of the annual Sundance Film Festival.
“One cool thing for groups that want to play some part in the Sundance festival is to go to the Egyptian Theater and do an awards ceremony,” Andersen says.
Park City is also filled with galleries and restaurants. 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.
Meanwhile, Andersen suggests fireside dining at the Empire Canyon Lodge in Deer Valley, which features fireplaces set up throughout the property.
“Attendees can decide what they want to eat at each fireplace—there’s one for meat, one for fondue,” Andersen says.
Despite the economy, Park City’s myriad lures are keeping it a popular destination for groups.
“People are still booking meetings,” Andersen says. “We have seen change in that they are shorter meetings that fit more in less time.”
Upcoming debuts in Park City include the High West distillery, coming on-line in spring 2009 as the first distillery to open in Park City since the end of prohibition.
Meanwhile, there are a number of property developments under way in the destination, including the Dakota Mountain Lodge at The Canyons Resort, set to open in spring 2009 and feature the 20,000-square-foot Golden Spa; a St. Regis that will be located slope-side at Deer Valley Resort; and Montage Resort, which will also be located at Deer Valley Resort and include a 35,000-square-foot spa and 15,000 square feet of meeting space when it opens in fall 2010.
The largest meetings property in Park City is The Canyons Grand Summit Hotel at The Canyons Resort, which accommodates groups of up to 400 people. Also at the Canyons Resort is the Silverado Lodge.
Park City’s other top meetings-oriented properties include the recently remodeled Park City Marriott; Hotel Park City; Yarrow Resort Hotel & Conference Center; The Lodges at Deer Valley; Red Stag Lodge; Stein Eriksen Lodge; Prospector Square Lodging and Conference Center; Treasure Mountain Inn and Conference Center; and Chateaux at Silver Lake in Deer Valley.
For More Info
Park City Chamber of Commerce CVB 435.649.6100 www.parkcitymeetings.com
Salt Lake CVB 801.534.4900 www.visitsaltlake.com
