In an effort to provide cost-saving choices and advice, SmartAsset, a financial technology company reported the Best U.S. Cities for Conferences in 2018, based on recent data from forecasting company Oxford Economics.
In order to rank the best cities for conferences, SmartAsset looked at data on nine metrics: the number of hotels, the number of medium-sized hotels, the number of large hotels, hotel costs, dining costs, the concentration of dining and entertainment establishments, the distance from the airport to downtown, airport travel time and the violent crime rate.
Here's SmartAssets’ list of the “top 11” U.S. Cities for conferences. The tenth spot was a tie.
- San Antonio, Texas
- San Diego, California
- Orlando, Florida
- Austin, Texas
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Atlanta, Georgia
- New York City, New York
- Houston, Texas
- Portland, Oregon
- Phoenix, Arizona [tie]
- Columbus, Ohio [tie]
SmartAsset revealed information on why it selected the cities it did for its top spots.
San Antonio was selected as the best city in America for conferences due to its varied and affordable hotel, dining and entertainment options. San Diego took the No. 2 spot, due to the airport’s proximity to downtown and its variety of lodging options. It was suggested as being an ideal choice for large groups.
Orlando landed the No. 3 spot due to its abundance of hotels and relatively affordable prices. Austin was selected at No. 4 as a good all-around option for conferences of all sizes. And Las Vegas was selected for the No. 5 position due to its variety of entertainment options and networking opportunities for groups.
According to the most recent data from forecasting company Oxford Economics, there are 1.9 million conventions, tradeshows and meetings in the U.S. each year with a total of 251 million attendees.
Information based off a news release from SmartAsset.
