Never standing still, Greater Seattle continues to evolve as a cultural innovator, pushing the boundaries in everything from technology to artwork and cuisine. So it’s little wonder that the region is a magnate for meetings, an inspiring place where vibrant urban hubs exist in harmony with spectacular natural surroundings.
Seattle
There’s even more for planners to like about Seattle these days, what with so many new venues, hotels and attractions along the waterfront and throughout the downtown core. Even the city’s most iconic landmark, Pike Place Market, is ramping up its visitor appeal this year, with the addition of a public terrace and plaza that is opening up views of Puget Sound and creating new space for farmers, crafters, artists and artisan food purveyors.
Downtown hotel development is running the gamut from new boutique properties like Kimpton’s Palladian Hotel to what will be the largest convention hotel on the West Coast north of San Francisco. Perhaps best symbolizing the city’s reinvention is the recent transformation of a former Red Lion property into the Motif Seattle, a chic hotel with design and colors inspired by Seattle’s fashion and art scene.
The most exciting news on the meetings scene is the recent announcement of an additional downtown convention center expected to open in 2020 a block away from the existing Washington State Convention Center.
“We didn’t have the land available to simply expand our existing facility, so this will give us two separate convention centers instead,” says Rob Hampton, senior vice president of convention sales and services at Visit Seattle. “While there may be some instances where very large groups will use both, most of the time we envision two separate meetings going on at the same time.”
The ability to accommodate additional groups will come in handy as meeting business, along with tourism in general, is booming in Seattle, according to Hampton. The city hosts a variety of groups, with corporate and national medical associations among its strongest sectors.
“Our corporate market has really come back, as it has in many cities,” he says. “We’re seeing these groups book further out in order to get space. We have about a 60 percent return rate, especially among our local clients like Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks and Nordstrom.” Both group and transient business are pushing hotel occupancies upward to record levels, he adds. Part of the increase is coming from an upsurge in cruise ship passengers—about 800,000 are expected to come through Seattle this year en route to Alaska.
“All the cruise lines have added larger ships and extended the season, which means that we are very busy here from May to October,” Hampton says.
As a result, planners looking for favorable dates and space need to work with hotels to find open dates and, if possible, meet in the winter rather than summer, he advises.
“Summer is a need time in many cities, but not for us,” he says. “During those peak summer months we often can’t give people the rates and room blocks they need. November through February are the months when we have the most availability.”
What makes Seattle so popular? Hampton believes it’s the region’s overall appeal as a destination for leisure and business alike.
“People are more likely to attend a convention if it’s in a place where they’d also like to vacation,” he says. “So that’s why we break attendance records year after year.”
PageBreak
Bellevue
Just across Lake Washington from Seattle, the city of Bellevue is no less dynamic than its larger neighbor to the east.
“We’re actually in a period of great growth, with a lot of new hotels that have recently opened or are being built,” says Jane Kantor, director of sales for Visit Bellevue. “Last year we got a new full-service Marriott and a Hampton Inn, while next year will have a new W, AC Marriott, Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites.”
All the new hotel inventory is enabling Bellevue to give planners a larger choice of brands at various price points and also open up the market to accommodate a broader range of groups, she adds.
“Corporate groups are our base and we do a lot of meeting business from Sunday through Thursday,” she says. “We’re now strengthening our appeal to hobby and SMERF groups, the kind of business that comes in on the weekends. That’s when we have more availability and our rates are lower.”
Bellevue is also strengthening its visitor appeal, partly the result of an influx of young professionals moving into its downtown center, says Kantor.
“The increase in people living downtown has brought in great new shops and restaurants,” she says. “Plus people enjoy places like the Mercer Slough, a waterfront park where you can go paddle boarding and kayaking. We’re also very convenient to all the wineries in Woodinville as well as to Seattle itself.”
Tacoma
South of Seattle, Tacoma offers a treasure trove of off-site venues and attractions, boasting a museum district comprised of the Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, America’s Car Museum, Washington State History Museum, Foss Waterway Seaport and Children’s Museum of Tacoma.
On the meetings front, Tacoma is anticipating the building of a new 300-room hotel attached to the downtown Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center. Currently in the design stage, it is expected to open in 2018.
“We could use more hotel rooms within walking distance of the center as well as additional meeting space, so this is a very welcome development,” says Chelene Potvin-Bird, vice president of sales for Travel Tacoma.
Tacoma is especially popular with small to midsize association, education and government groups, she says.
“Planners like the fact that we’re midsize and that their group can take over the city,” she says. “There’s little need for transportation—everything is close together and there’s free light rail running through downtown.”
Seattle Southside
Tucked between Seattle and Tacoma and adjacent to Sea-Tac International Airport, the district known as Seattle Southside encompasses Tukwila, SeaTac and Des Moines. It has over 8,000 hotel rooms and a variety of off-site venues.
Chief among these is the Museum of Flight, which houses the red barn where the first Boeing aircraft was built, the original Air Force One, the Concorde and a shuttle trainer used by NASA to train astronauts. The museum is unveiling a major expansion of its exhibit space this summer.
Snohomish County
North of Seattle, Snohomish County serves groups in the 100 to 350 range at such venues as the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center at Xfinity Arena in Everett and the Lynnwood Convention Center in Lynnwood. It also includes the 370-room Tulalip Resort, Casino & Spa, which has 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
