Fueled by a steady inlux of government and agriculture meetings, the cities, towns and parks that encompass the region of Sacramento and the Central Valley have exciting new developments in store for groups of all sizes and types.
Sacramento
In a phone call immediately following the press conference announcing Sacramento as the “Farm-to-Fork Capital”, Mike Testa, senior vice president of convention sales for the Sacramento CVB, described the steady group growth of California’s capital city.
“We’re very proud of last year,” he said. “We reached the highest level of room night production that we’ve seen over the last 10 years. It was nice to see positive growth. More than a quarter of the business we booked last year was new, and the national market for citywide conventions is also picking up, so hopefully that continues.”
Testa reports that the volume of meetings in Sacramento is up, but individual groups are sending fewer attendees.
Fortunately, the city and surrounding area have a variety of attractions to entertain the new visitors, including the luxurious Thunder Valley Casino Resort 30 miles ouside of Sacramento, with 300 guest rooms and more than 10,000 square of function space.
Sports-enthusiast attendees will be pleased with Sacramento’s offerings. The Sacramento Kings basketball team offers steeply discounted ticket prices for convention groups, and the Rivercats AAA minor-league baseball team plays at Raley Field, located just across the Sacramento River from the California Capitol Building and downtown. Event spaces at the ballpark can accommodate meals, receptions, meetings and even group softball games on the field.
The city is getting artsy with the Blue Trees Art Installation. Fulfilling a concept created by Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos, 20 Sycamore trees downtown were colored using eco-friendly ultramarine blue pigment to create awareness for global deforestation. Dimopoulous created similar installations in Melbourne, Australia; Vancouver, B.C.; Auckland, New Zealand; and Seattle. The display is expected to last until the trees shed their bark next spring.
The Crocker Art Museum, which completed a $100 million expansion in 2010, is welcoming a Normal Rockwell Exhibit that will run through February and contain more than 50 paintings and 323 original Saturday Evening Post covers.PageBreak
Stockton
When asked about new hotel developments in town, Wes Rhea, executive director of the Stockton CVB, explains how the city doesn’t see a lot of product turnover, but still has much to offer meeting planners.
“The CVB is running a lot of programs to bring in groups,” he says.
A current meetings incentive program rewards planners with up to $4,000 toward their event, based on room nights booked.
“Our best fits are associations and SMERF market meetings,” Rhea says. “We also see decent amounts of government groups, given our proximity to Sacramento.”
There are three full-service hotels in town. In order of descending size; the Hilton Stockton, the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel and the Best Western Plus Heritage Inn all offer function space. The Hilton can accommodate up to 450 attendees, and both the University Plaza and Best Western properties have approximately 10,000 square feet of function space.
Rhea also reports that one of the most popular local off-sites is the Haggin Museum in Stockton’s Victory Park. The 80-year-old building houses a mix of fine European and American art, local history exhibits and a stunning display of Yosemite Valley panoramic paintings.
“It’s an 80-year-old museum in a stately building in the middle of a park,” Rhea says. “It’s a great venue and the space is very flexible.”
The Haggin’s 34,000 square feet of exhibition space contains exhibits that are both global and local in scope, with upcoming installations such as Driven to Dream, highlighting Stockton’s car culture, and Charreria: The Artisanship of Mexican Equestrian Culture, examining the artistry and tradition of the Mexican cowboy society.
Stockton hasn’t yet seen a huge recovery in booking numbers, and Rhea reports the city’s average daily rate is still down about $10 from where it was in 2008.
“This is good for planers,” he says. “We still have very competitive rates, and there are good deals to be found here.”
Also in downtown Stockton, the Bob Hope Theater has more than 2,000 red velvet seats and a large, open lobby space that Rhea says is great for groups.
Another classic option for planners is taking groups out on River Delta cruises, with two boats holding 149 and 80 people, respectively.PageBreak
Modesto
Classic venues like the McHenry Mansion, excursions on the Sierra Railroad Dinner Train and quirky sites like the Fat Cat Music House and Lounge give planners interesting options when looking to Modesto.
Merced
There is a lot to learn in Merced, as the city is home to the newest University of California campus and also offers a bounty of museums, including the Castle Air Museum, the Merced Agricultural Museum and the Merced Courthouse Museum.
Merced is planned to be a stop on the first segment of the California High Speed Rail to be constructed in 2015, connecting the city to Bakersfield, but the project has drawn criticism and encountered funding opposition.
Fresno
The Fresno Convention Center complex, covering five city blocks, encompasses a theater, a 32,000-square-foot exhibit hall and more than 30 meeting rooms. The Fresno/Clovis CVB offers competitive rates for groups, and other main meeting venues in town include the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center and the Wonder Valley Ranch & Conference Center.
National Parks
Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park recently welcomed a new executive chef, Jeff Graham, who will head the property’s rebranded restaurant, The Peaks. The restaurant is available for catered events, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering mountain views. Graham has created a menu drawing from partnerships with farmers and ranchers in the San Joaquin Valley.
According to Rebecca Chappell, a public relations representative for the lodge, Wuksachi provides a beautiful alternative to ordinary, urban meeting space.
“Sequoia National Park is an unspoiled treasure with some of the most striking scenery in the world,” she says.
The 102-room lodge is situated at an altitude of 7,200 feet in the Central Sierra mountains, and the surrounding wilderness makes for great team-building programs and downtime activities.
Wuksachi is open year-round, and Chappell points out that rates are lower from October through April, when groups can avoid the rush of the busy summer season.
With 1,320 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, the lodge can accommodate events of up to 80 people. PageBreak
Mammoth
A classic mountain destination, Mammoth entices planners to host their event at “the top of California” at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet. Whether planners are hosting an intimate winter ski retreat or a major summer conference, the resort has a venue to match, with over 30,000 square feet of function space and 150 ski trails.
Visalia
A major jumping off point for visitors travelling up to Sequoia National Park, Visalia stands on its own as a meetings destination, with 1,200 sleeping rooms, 140,000 square feet of function space and bountiful free parking.
Main meeting venues include the historic Fox Theater, the Cellar Door wine lounge music venue and the Tulare County Museum of Farm Labor and Agriculture.
Groups can discover more about the region’s most important industry at the AgVentures Educational Center, which can host groups of up to 10,000 people. Spaces include an 89-seat theater, a small board room, an outdoor arbor and dairy center.
Bakersfield
Bakersfield continues to make a name for itself as a meeting destination, offering affordability, outdoor adventures like hiking and kayaking along the Kern River Valley and a location equidistant from the population centers of Northern and Southern California. The Rabobank Convention Center contains 70,000 square feet of event space, including 13 meeting rooms and a 29,500-square-foot exhibition hall. The convention center is connected to the SMG-managed Bakersfield Marriott at the Convention Center, with 250 guest rooms.
