Both the Baton Rouge and Shreveport-Bossier City areas present amiable and affordable environments for planners who previously might have only considered New Orleans. Each locale tends to surprise planners in numerous ways.
Baton Rouge, for instance, effortlessly blends Southern history with contemporary flair. The gothic Old State Capitol Building, when juxtaposed with the current state capitol, an Art Deco structure, reflects a unique past-to-present dichotomy of architecture. The crossover of old and new becomes an all-encompassing metaphor, weaving its way into everything. Planners experience the effervescence of college life side by side with the grandeur of antebellum history. State government operates right alongside a thriving film industry.
Not too far away, on the banks of the Red River, Shreveport-Bossier City sits at the crossroads of interstates 20 and 49, making it an easily drivable gateway from numerous Southern municipalities. The destination mixes Texas and Cajun influences, and since Arkansas is just a bit farther away than Texas, the area is often referred to as “Ark-La-Tex.”
Baton Rouge
In Baton Rouge, a place where No. 1-ranked LSU college football games turn the entire city upside-down, with in excess of 80,000 people jamming into Tiger Stadium, planners are often surprised to learn that all preconceptions of a college town or a farm town are not true.
“People are surprised it’s not a small town,” says Geraldine Bordelon, director of destination sales for the Baton Rouge Area CVB. “They don’t realize how advanced the city is, how metropolitan it is. They’re surprised when they see the Shaw Center, or when they see a balcony overlooking the Mississippi and the whole downtown area. We’ve got the state government here and a big hospitality industry. It’s not a sleepy college town with just college kids running around.”
Baton Rouge will host several international conferences next year. In particular, the International Planetarium Society will hold its biennial get-together in July at the Baton Rouge River Center, Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center and the Belle of Baton Rouge. The city won the bid over San Francisco and Saint-Etienne, France—quite an accomplishment.
Meanwhile, in 2010 the film industry brought an estimated $196 million to the Baton Rouge area. Two-thirds of that amount came from two films: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, and Battleship, but it proves Baton Rouge is positioning itself as a cheaper alternative in a few different cultural and business arenas.
In addition to college football and the film industry, Baton Rouge is steeped in Cajun heritage. Culinary events take place year-round, and there’s even a cooking school just for kids. Cooking classes are common for business groups and team-building activities of all kinds.
For larger groups seeking views along the banks of the Mississippi, The Baton Rouge River Center complex just completed an expansion a few months ago. The center now offers 70,000 square feet of meeting space, which can be combined with the arena’s 30,000 square feet. The total number of breakout rooms is now 17. The arena seats 10,000 for concerts, while the Theatre for Performing Arts can seat 1,900.
“We’ve got arts, entertainment and gaming, we’ve got the nightlife, and we’ve definitely got the food—it’s a little bit of everything,” Bordelon says. “And if people want the New Orleans experience, it’s only an hour drive away.”
The city is home to several meetings properties. The Hilton Capital Center Hotel has 290 guest rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, including 13 meeting rooms and two river-view ballrooms. As a definitive example of Baton Rouge, the property seamlessly merges past with present, combining historical grandeur with modern amenities. Adjacent to the Hilton, the Shaw Center for the Arts also offers multiple components and configurations for groups.
From there, West Baton Rouge presents even more potential right on the other side of the Mississippi. The West Baton Rouge Conference Center, for example, features banquet and conference rooms that can accommodate 50 to 800. As with Baton Rouge proper, the area offers access to plantation country, Cajun country and wide-open expanses for more pre- or post-meeting options.
Shreveport-Bossier City
Straddling both sides of the Red River, the twin cities of Shreveport and Bossier City comprise an urban area marketed as “Louisiana’s Other Side.” Since the locale sits so close to Texas and Arkansas, the influence of those states cannot be contained, thus the region’s moniker, Ark-La-Tex. The area exudes both Cajun characteristics and a wide-open Texas spirit—all of which emerges in the cuisine, the cultural facilities and the history.
Gaming is prevalent here, as is shopping of all sorts. The Red River Revel, one of the most popular festivals in the South, erupts during the first weekend of October. Hundreds of vendors hawk their wares, and big- name acts appear in the amphitheater.
When it comes to music, especially rock and blues, Shreveport’s history is impressive. The Municipal Auditorium, a classic Art Deco building, is where Elvis Presley gave his first public performance in 1954, on the Louisiana Hayride radio show. Two bigger-than-life statues sit in front of the building, one of Elvis and another of his guitar player, James Burton, who grew up in Shreveport and now runs a foundation headquartered across the street from the auditorium. At age 72, Burton still occasionally tours and plays gigs. Both statues are major tourist attractions. For planners, the building can seat at least 3,000 visitors and offers a 6,300-square-foot arena, a 54-foot proscenium arch, and by far the largest stage in the city.
The 350,000-square-foot Shreveport Convention Center continues to host a wide variety of events—everything from intimate weddings to trade shows, product launches and large-scale gatherings. The facility features a 95,000-square-foot, column-free exhibit hall, 18,000 square feet of ballroom space and 10 additional breakout rooms.
Connected to the center is the Hilton Shreveport, offering 313 sleeping rooms and suites, plus several meeting spaces and ballrooms, the largest of which is 16,000 square feet. Since the hotel and convention center are situated in the downtown Riverfront District, planners have access to numerous shopping and gaming options.
When it comes to gaming, the Shreveport-Bossier area brims with casinos. The Eldorado Resort Casino and Hotel sits right on the river. Essentially the premier gaming destination in town, the Eldorado concentrates on more intimate business meetings, with 6,000 square feet of space. Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino features 16,000 square feet of convention and banquet space, plus four restaurants. Across the river in Bossier are Horseshoe Casino and Hotel, the Boomtown Casino and Hotel and Diamondjacks Casino Resort.
Meanwhile, the Ramada Inn and Conference Center in Bossier City includes 200 guest rooms and suites, plus 8,000 square feet of meeting space.
Overall, the Shreveport-Bossier area presents a cheaper alternative to big cities in the South, even in darker fiscal times. Kim Brice, vice president of convention marketing for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau, explains that as the economy continues to aggravate folks, the city has turned to more traditional methods for obtaining new business. It’s all about the handshakes.
“We are really narrowing our marketing focus more than ever due to the economic times,” she says. “Personal relationships are the way to securing business nowadays. When meeting planners trust you, they will return to your destination over and over again.”
Gary Singh is a newspaper columnist, travel writer and freelance journalist.
