Meeting groups seeking a convenient Eastern location and affordability often end their quest in the Greater Wilmington and Brandywine Valley region of Delaware and Pennsylvania.
America’s beginnings are imbedded here, along with stunning mansions and gardens, small-town charm and a vibrant business culture in proximity to Philadelphia. But that’s not all.
Situated halfway between New York City and Washington, D.C., along the Interstate 95 corridor, the Greater Wilmington/Brandywine Valley region is a convenient drive destination to a third of the U.S. population. Via train or car, it is less than two hours from New York or D.C., and only a half-hour from Philadelphia.
The valley’s bucolic natural beauty just outside Wilmington attracted a couple of America’s foremost families—the du Ponts and the Wyeths—to the area, and their legacies remain the valley’s main attractions.
The du Pont family arrived in America in 1800 and launched an industrial empire on the banks of the Brandywine River. They began by manufacturing gun powder in 1802. The early days of the family and corporate history in America are chronicled at the 230-acre Hagley Museum and Library.
Individual members of the family later created stunning mansions and gardens, including Winterthur Museum and Country Estate, Longwood Gardens and Nemours. Original art and furnishings abound in these estates, which are available for tours and private events.
Wilmington’s revitalizing riverfront and its business-friendly array of facilities and amenities round out the region’s meetings appeal.
DELAWARE COUNTY
Philadelphia’s high society Main Line region of affluent towns that was established outside the city in the 19th century is located in Delaware County. Although Chanticleer is the only surviving estate from the era that remains open to the public, there are many other visitor attractions, including upscale dining stops, shops and cultural magnets like the Wayne Arts Center and the Anthony Wayne Theatre, built in 1928.
According to Tore Fiore, executive director of Delaware County’s Brandywine CVB, business groups and individual business travelers compose about 45 percent of the area’s annual visitor count.
“Smaller meetings of up to about 1,000 people are always our marketing and service focus,” Fiore says. “We are much less taxing and more relaxing than the big city nearby—and we offer free parking—something that adds to our good neighbor stance with Philadelphia.”
The business-friendly culture that characterizes Delaware County features group facilities such as the Waynewood Hotel, a charming property that was built in 1906 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Wayne Hotel, offering a European ambience. The Brandywine River Hotel has meeting space for up to 50 people, and the 171-room Radnor Hotel provides groups with 10 meeting rooms and formal gardens.
Larger sites include Renaissance Philadelphia Airport Hotel, with 328 guest rooms and suites and 12,000 square feet of meeting space, and Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack, a gaming and horse racing complex with 11,000 square feet of event space. The Drexelbrook Corporate Event Center in Drexel Hills has 25,000 square feet of meeting space with both indoor and outdoor venues.
The Delaware County Institute of Science has been situated in the county seat, Media, since 1833, and the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology is also located there.
Nearby is the celebrated art of three Wyeth Family generations—N.C., Andrew, Jamie, Betsy, Caroline and husband Peter Hurd—in the Brandywine River Museum. N.C. Wyeth’s House and Studio and the Kuerner Farm, which achieved fame through nearly 1,000 of Andrew’s compositions, are also among the museum’s features.PageBreak
CHESTER COUNTY
Like its urban and regional neighbors, Chester County holds early European settlement history of Pennsylvania and Delaware in one piece of William Penn’s English royal land grant. Though its profile today is suburban, many pastoral spaces accented with gardens, museums and smaller lodging properties provide a countryside escape near modern meeting sites.
Chester County’s biggest visitor draw is Longwood Gardens, a horticultural du Pont legacy property featuring more than 1,000 acres of gardens, a conservatory, woodlands and fountains. Media giant QVC also pulls in visitors, who can watch one of the world’s premier shopping networks at work. Observers learn how products are chosen for the spotlight and watch live TV broadcasts in action. Behind-the-scenes studio tours are also available for groups heading to QVC.
Another draw is Kennett Square, the “Mushroom Capital of the World,” where fungi are the main attraction, as are restaurants, shops, inns and bed-and-breakfast properties. More than 50 percent of America’s mushroom crops comes out of Kennett Square, and visitors can learn about the product’s nutritional value and the mushroom industry at The Mushroom Cap, a local market emporium.
Business groups gather in Chester County facilities such as the IACC-certified Great Valley Conference Center at The Desmond Hotel, with 194 guest rooms and 11 meeting rooms. In the Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley, there’s an academic atmosphere for research, consultation and training within computer labs, classrooms and a 300-seat auditorium.
GREATER WILMINGTON
A great location, accessibility and affordability are Wilmington’s strong suits when competing with larger East Coast cities for business.
No Delaware sales tax on room rentals and food and beverage brings yet another ROI benefit to groups, and attendees love the state’s no-tax benefits for dining, entertainment and shopping.
To sweeten its appeal even more, the Greater Wilmington CVB is offering a $20,000 transportation assistance allowance to groups that generate a minimum of 100 room nights in a New Castle County CVB member hotel. The allowance may be used for transporting attendees via bus or train throughout the area. Funds are in place through 2013, and the CVB is accepting applications for 2014 as well.
“Wilmington is not a major city, but it offers the same amenities as a larger venue at a much lower cost,” says Sara Garnett, director of sales for the New Castle CVB. “The fact that there is no sales tax on shopping, dining and entertainment in Delaware is a big draw for meeting planners because it translates into an immediate return on investment. The hotel tax is also much lower than it is in surrounding areas.”PageBreak
One of the area’s newest value-adds is coming in the form of the Westin Wilmington, which is rising along the riverfront and adjacent to the Chase Center on the Riverfront, the area’s premier group venue, with 87,000 square feet of meeting space. The $37 million hotel project, the first full-service hotel for the city in 20 years, will add 2,000 square feet of meeting space to the city’s facility lineup, which now includes 700 hotel rooms downtown. Completion is slated for early 2014.
The Westin will join other meetings-ready properties such as Hotel du Pont, Doubletree Hotel Downtown and Sheraton Suites Wilmington.
The new Westin boosts Wilmington’s profile as a meetings destination, according to Kerrie Van Horn, director of marketing for The Chase Center.
“Without a hotel within walking distance, the Chase Center has been considered an off-site location, forcing us to compete for local and regional meetings, with many of our events being one-day meetings and conferences,” she says. “Even though we had partnerships with area hotels and transportation incentives, it has been difficult to attract groups that require hotel rooms or want to be under one roof.
“With the new Westin, we are expanding our marketing radius beyond 40 miles, so we can better compete with other tier-three cities. Delaware has no sales tax, and Wilmington has lower hotel occupancy tax than surrounding locations in the mid-Atlantic region, plus many wonderful cultural attractions. With the new Westin alongside the Chase Center, we are a great alternative, offering savings and convenience.”
After-business diversions are also on the rise in and around the city.
Garnett says that while more nightlife venues are on the city’s wish list, there is already a good choice of live nighttime music venues in clubs, theaters and restaurants.
“Of course, we’d like to have more nightlife similar to what our competitors to the north and south have, and we are working on that,” Garnett says. “But we really don’t have any peers that can offer our unique package—the vibrancy of an urban area only three miles away from rolling hills and unique cultural attractions, with the affordability and accessibility we offer.”
Nearby, New Castle is the landing site of Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn, who arrived in the New World in 1682. Sometimes called “Williamsburg on the Delaware,” New Castle is a living history museum of architecture and lifestyles from the 17th and 18th centuries. Groups may meet and stay at the Sheraton Wilmington South, the destination’s newest hotel, with its 9,000 square feet of meeting space and 192 guest rooms.
Yet another unique cultural attraction in the region, the Historic Houses of Odessa are 23 miles south of Wilmington. The 18th and 19th century collection of residences have authentic furnishings from the period, many of which were created by Delaware cabinetmakers, silversmiths and other artists.
Ruth A. Hill is a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus East.
