You know you’re in Maryland’s colonial capital of Annapolis when you see spires, white sails and Naval Academy midshipmen strolling the waterfront. Winding 18th century cobblestone streets and vintage architecture are also part of the region’s profile, along with contemporary pursuits like fine dining, shopping and pub crawling.
Groups can explore local maritime heritage during walking tours of the historic district and U.S. Naval Academy and waterborne activities like sailing races or dinner cruises. Throw in Annapolis’ grand East Coast accessibility and sophisticated meetings facilities within arm’s reach of both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and you have the components of a stellar meetings destination that welcomes everything from corporate and association groups to sports events.
Location, Location, Location
Attendees have convenient fly-in and drive-in access to the Annapolis region with Baltimore/Washington’s Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and via major highways from Baltimore to the north and D.C. to the south.
Although centers of political power and commerce lie so close, groups experience a world apart from the urban hustle when they choose the Annapolis area. It offers a combination of historic sites, waterfront tranquility and waterborne activities, along with modern diversions. Day and overnight excursions to many rural Chesapeake Bay destinations are also possible, so it’s easy to combine business with waterside relaxation.
Developments, including a spate of full-service hotels around BWI in recent years, have boosted the area’s meetings appeal. There are now over 60 lodging options on every budget level, including the AAA Four Diamond Loews Annapolis Hotel in downtown, full-service business class hotels near BWI Airport and European-style boutique properties.
“People think they know Annapolis, that we are not as sophisticated as we actually are,” says Connie Del Signore, president and CEO of the Annapolis/Anne Arundel County CVB. “What they know is our casual side, but when they pay us a call, they find our hotels are the highest quality and have every service and convenience. They also learn there’s no better place than Annapolis to integrate team-building activities, especially on the water, with regular business meetings.”
Westin Annapolis Hotel, Sheraton Hotel Annapolis and BWI Airport Marriott Hotel are among the region’s larger properties that are well equipped for meetings. Several boutique-style properties that are designed for smaller business occasions complement the larger properties. One of the newest is The Hotel at Arundel Preserve, which is opening this fall. Located near both Arundel Mills Mall and government offices at Fort Meade, the 150-unit hotel comes with an executive floor and 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting spaces. A grand ballroom accommodates 500 guests.
Adding even more dimension to Annapolis and Anne Arundel County is the rising Maryland Live! Casino at Arundel Mills Mall, Maryland’s most popular tourism destination, with 225 shopping stops and themed restaurants like Medieval Times Dinner Tournament and a 24-screen movie theater. The new gaming site will be the largest in Maryland when it is finished in late 2012 and will feature 4,750 slot and electric game tables as well as upscale dining choices and live music venues.
Marketing Strategies
Del Signore says her bureau’s meetings marketing strategies are now focused on re-energizing corporate business and gleaning more bookings for sports events.
“About 40 percent of the bookings we’ve done this year for future business are sports room nights,” she says. “Team Maryland, a state project that is generating millions in sports-related events business, is bringing us groups like the drum corps championships, which generate overnights for families.”
Sports trade shows are also in this market mix, she says.
Corporate meetings business hasn’t been as robust as Del Signore and her staff would like, so they are working with the Naval Academy Athletic Association to promote its conference facilities to meeting planners and others who aren’t acquainted with the facility.
“The association has one of the most fabulous conference facilities in the region,” Del Signore says, “but most people haven’t known about it. That’s mainly because it has had limited access in the past, but that has changed. The Lawrence Room at the Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is a large hall that overlooks the playing field and holds over 1,000 for meetings. Groups can meet downstairs and go upstairs for sky box views of the field, even if there’s no play going on. It’s a grand facility with all the tech amenities.”
The CVB is also continuing its very successful partnership with the Newport and Bristol County CVB in Rhode Island. The two bureaus have similar historic maritime profiles, and have combined resources to host planners at events, according to Del Signore.
“We are also looking for other partners to broaden our scope as well,” she says.
The bureau also has a focus on hosting smaller planner site visits of one to three people. Del Signore says bringing individuals into the destination has had a better booking conversion rate, about 70-percent, than larger events and FAM trips.
“Planning events for 20 to 30 people just wasn’t as effective,” she explains. “Instead, we are bringing in a few for hotel site visits, getting them on the water and taking them to football games. It’s our best way, we’ve found, to acquaint them with who we are.”
Venue Variety
One thing planners love about Annapolis and its surroundings are its many unique venues. The capital is a National Historic Landmark, and there are over 500 historic public and private buildings, including one of the nation’s largest collections of original colonial structures. Many of these antiques have new uses, such as galleries, antiques stores, specialty shops, restaurants, taverns and inns.
One historic site that hosts private events is the 1763 William Paca House and Garden. It belonged to a signer of the Declaration of Independence. There’s also the Georgian-style Hammond-Harwood House, the waterfront Charles Carroll House and Gardens, and the iconic Maryland State House.
Annapolis Maritime Museum has a 2,000-square-foot Bay Room and deck with views of the Chesapeake Bay. Historic London Town and Gardens is an eight-acre waterfront estate on a picturesque bluff overlooking the South River with gardens and the 1763 William Brown House. Visitors arrive to the facility by boat. The River Plantation is set on 1,000 acres over four miles of Wye River shoreline, where there’s a variety of unique venues, including luxury yachts.
The National Cryptologic Museum on the grounds of Fort Meade is of interest to many visitors because it provides a glimpse of how spies have made and broken codes through history. The story of slavery, speeches of Frederick Douglass and the region’s African-American heritage are on display at the Banneker-Douglass Museum.
Nightlife and entertainment are plentiful in the Annapolis area, brimming with taverns, wine bars and pubs.
With its waterfront appeal, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County reach high season pitch in summer. That’s when sails get unfurled and its moniker as “America’s Sailing Capital” really comes alive. Groups can choose among charter yachts, sailboats and fishing boats. Crab and all the trimmings are plentiful, and outdoor life is king, just as it has been in this capital for about three centuries.
