Bigger Venues Breed High Hopes

If all goes as planned, the first decade of the new millennium will see the three major tradeshow destinations of the Southeastern United States add some 1.8 million square feet of exhibit space to their existing stock of 6.7 million.

As luck would have it, coinciding with expansions in Atlanta, New Orleans and Orlando are conditions causing a few big tradeshows to leave the region. But far from regretting their construction plans, the cities say the new space may be what saves them in coming years.

With 6,743,936 square feet of exhibit space between them (according to Tradeshow Week research), Atlanta, New Orleans and Orlando are the Southeast's biggest players. All three rank in the top 10 U.S. cities by number of Tradeshow Week 200 shows hosted in 2002, together controlling 41 percent of that market.

These days – with destinations like Chicago and Las Vegas both speeding toward the 5 million square foot mark – maintaining top-tradeshow-destination status means adding exhibit space … lots of it. The Southeast knows that. The summer of 2002 saw the opening of 420,000 sq. ft. of new space in Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center; Orlando's Orange County Convention Center completed its 950,000 sq. ft. addition last November. Not to be left out, New Orleans is planning to add another 500,000 sq. ft. by 2008. And that's before all the new construction planned or underway at all the cities' smaller facilities.

Despite all the building going on, some major shows have left the area. Fifteen-year Atlanta stalwart The Super Show headed for Las Vegas in 2001. SUPERCOMM, in Atlanta the past six years, will move to Chicago in 2004. The exponentially growing Intl. Builders' Show nearly pulled its 2007 and 2008 shows out of Atlanta too, and is still considering whether New Orleans will be big enough for it in 2013 and 2014.

Still, the cities' convention salespeople see the new space as a blessing, not a bane. "Space is never the problem," explained Mark Nelson, vice president of convention sales and services for the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In fact, pointed out Bob Schuler, vice president of convention sales for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, it was the extra 420,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space added to the GWCC that allowed the city to keep the Intl. Builders' Show in '07 and '08. "We almost lost that one because of the space," Schuler said. "That's a perfect example of a $381-million event that was saved because of an expansion."

In the current environment, with available space increasing and most show sizes stagnating, stakes are high and strategies are changing. "Everyone is really out aggressively building relationships, speaking to the strengths of the facilities they have," Nelson explained. "When times were good, business was inbound. During tough economic times, you have to be outbound. It's still a buyer's market."

All three cities named each other as their main competitors, but smaller cities in the region can give them just as much trouble. "While they may be less convenient, or more costly to get to, they are still offering incentives and opening up the door for customers interested in this area to look their way," said Schuler.

And as if that weren't enough, the Southeast's heavy hitters have the rest of the country to deal with as well. "We compete with all the major cities in terms of conventions," said Kent Wasmuth, vice president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau.

So, how does a city maintain its edge? Schuler said the Atlanta CVB has realigned itself a couple of times in the last few years to respond to growing sales pressure.

In fact, according to SUPERCOMM General Manager Jack Chalden, customer service was Atlanta's strong point. "The city and our industry made a good partnership, and the show grew to its peak there," Chalden said. "But it was that very growth that put us in a place where Atlanta would no longer be adequate."

The Tradeshow Week 200-ranked show, which has also taken place in New Orleans, Dallas and Anaheim in past years, reached 278,000 net sq. ft. in June 2003, down from 484,000 in 2002. But, Chalden explained, the decision to move was made in 1998 when the show – like the telecommunications industry it serves – was going strong.

Perhaps because of his own show's challenges, Chalden is sympathetic to the difficulties CVBs face. "The economy has hit cities in their pocketbooks," he said "The facilities built on the promise of things to come are going through a tough time."

At the Annual Meeting of the Professional Convention Management Assn. Jan. 11-14 in Indianapolis, Orlando rolled out a new marketing campaign meant to show off that city's more refined offerings for grown-ups.

Orlando will be home to Atlanta's former client, The Super Show, in '04, '05 and '06. The show's manager, Hardy Katz of Communications & Show Management, said the show pulled out of Atlanta to begin with because, after 15 years, it needed a change in venue to "freshen it up."

In any case, the big venues aren't waiting around for Tradeshow Week 200 events like The Super Show to make or break them. Wasmuth said a big part of New Orleans' current sales strategy involves the stacking of smaller shows and corporate events. "As shows dwindle in size, that opens up the opportunity for more stand-alones that might be in the 1,000- to 2,000-room range," he said. "With 37,000 hotel rooms, we have a lot of options to fill their needs."