Industry Assists New Orleans
As cancellations mount, CVBs juggle calendars, fundraising drives start
By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 9/12/2005
Convention and visitors bureaus throughout the country are struggling to accommodate the growing number of groups needing new homes for conferences and exhibitions set for storm-ravaged New Orleans, where all 2005 citywide events have been canceled.
And the disruption to tradeshow calendars doesn't end there. As evacuees filled Houston's Astrodome, the city's mayor ordered the George R. Brown Convention Center and Reliant Center converted into shelters. Convention facilities in Dallas and San Antonio weren't being used for evacuees as of press time.
CVBs from Atlanta to Anaheim and many points in between have been inundated with calls since levee breaches left 80 percent of New Orleans underwater following Hurricane Katrina. While most of the inquiries concerned conventions slated for New Orleans over the next nine months, some were for large tradeshows as far as two years out.
"At this point, planners seem to be canvassing the entire country for options," said Nicky See, communications manager for the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau.
"The numbers are growing as people realize how catastrophic the impact has been on New Orleans. At this point, we're reacting to the needs of the clients. We have heartfelt concerns for the people in New Orleans."
John Solis, director of the San Antonio CVB, said his organization had received "a couple hundred" calls, some regarding meetings all the way into next June. The bureau even hired a contract worker to help with the workload.
"It really is tough. We feel kind of bad that these calls are coming in at such a rapid volume. We haven't been on the phones pulling groups out of New Orleans," said Solis. "Sadly, it's the opposite."
The disaster quickly turned CVB competitors into compadres. "It's like we're the civil defense of the meetings business," said Jordy Tollett, president of the CVB in Houston, where 25,000 refugees have moved into the Astrodome. "This is a time when people need to be very focused and concentrating on doing what they can to help each other."
The Dallas CVB, headed by Phillip Jones, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, offered to swap meetings scheduled for rotation in Dallas and New Orleans. "That way, they won't lose the business," he said.
Jones began rallying local businesses even as Katrina roared toward New Orleans. Dallas hoteliers agreed to rebate a percentage of the room rate back to the American Red Cross. Dallas-based American Airlines offered to waive cancellation fees and penalties for relocating groups.
Houston, Dallas and San Antonio businesses all pulled out the stops to accommodate Louisiana evacuees, many with children, pets and the elderly in tow. In Houston, CVB officials called local theaters, museums, sports teams and attractions to round up free tickets for evacuees. Restaurants and hotels offered discounts to Louisianans.
The timing was particularly bad for New Orleans, since the city had been gearing up for a busy fall convention schedule. In addition, the disaster struck just as work had finally commenced on a 524,000 square foot expansion to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, stalled for nearly two years due to a contract dispute. Local CVB officials had been hoping the $315 million expansion would help boost lagging convention bookings.
J. Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan CVB, expressed confidence in the city's comeback, despite the devastation. "The future of the industry in New Orleans will likely be stronger than ever," he wrote in an e-mail. "The Morial convention center is relatively undamaged and the character of the French Quarter will be unchanged. Most hotels suffered only minor damage."
However, there will be some cleaning up from the 25,000 storm victims that used the convention center as a temporary shelter.
The CVB, meanwhile, set up temporary quarters in Baton Rouge and tried to communicate with meeting planners via staff in Chicago and Washington, D.C. The CVB was forced to cancel all New Orleans events for the rest of the year.
However, Perry, who kept the CVB's Web site updated throughout the disaster, remained optimistic. "The conventions and meetings business will be ready earlier than the city in all likelihood," he wrote.
Perry estimated that the city would have been back in business within two weeks, were it not for the levee breaks. He added, "The new dollars that will flow into New Orleans will put a beautiful new face on the city. But, for now, we have tragedy to deal with."
Meanwhile, cancellations mounted. While the hurricane's initial toll was set at more than $20 billion, it could take far longer to calculate the damage from lost convention business. Nearly 70 conventions and tradeshows were set for the Morial and local hotels over the next six months.
Among them were four Tradeshow Week 200 events. The NACS Show, expected to draw 23,000 attendees and 1,350 exhibitors to its Oct. 29–Nov. 1 show at the Morial, opted to move to the Las Vegas Convention Center Nov. 15–18.
The Specialty Graphic Imaging Assn. canceled SGIA, slated to draw 471 exhibitors and nearly 7,000 attendees to the Morial Sept. 28–Oct. 1. The group had been considering Atlanta as an alternative, but concluded that cancellation was the best option.
"We greatly appreciate the efforts of the people in New Orleans and Atlanta who have worked hard on our behalf. However, there's just too much to do in too short a period of time," read a statement from association CEO Mike Robertson, who encouraged members to donate to hurricane victims.
The Natl. Business Aviation Assn. opted to relocate its NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention. The TSW 200 event at the Morial Nov. 15–17 was expected to feature a 500,000 net sq. ft. showfloor with 1,000 exhibitors. The group will use this year's event — wherever it's held — to gather donations for storm victims. The NBAA is also rallying members to help with relief efforts.
Diversified Business Communications has some time before its Nov. 30–Dec. 2 Intl. WorkBoat Show, a TSW 200 event that last year drew nearly 1,000 exhibitors and 12,000 attendees to the Morial. But Diversified has to worry about more than alternate dates. The disaster dealt a severe blow to the show's exhibitors and attendees, said Vice President Vicki Hennin, adding that the Gulf Coast "is the very heart of the industry."
CVBs across the country expected to be helping New Orleans groups for some time to come. "I'm sure the calls will accelerate here as the weeks go on," said Bill Schuyler, vice president of sales for the Atlanta CVB.
Although the Mississippi Gulf Coast didn't experience sustained flooding, damage to its tourism infrastructure was extensive. Five Biloxi casinos were severely damaged, including the MGM Mirage's Beau Rivage. Nineteen area Hilton Hotels suffered flooding, broken windows and stucco damage.
In Alabama, a 12-foot storm surge from the Mobile River flooded the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center. There was no word on damage to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center, which was preparing to embark on a $68 million expansion to add as much as 200,000 sq. ft. of meeting and exhibition space.
Besides the Morial convention center, New Orleans is also home to dozens of suppliers. Czarnowski Exhibit Services, Freeman and its AV-TELAV subsidiary, and GES Exposition Services all have offices there.
The hurricane was a test for Freeman's disaster plan, which asks employees to call a central number in the event of emergency.
MC2 CEO Gary Benson said MC2's 10,000 sq. ft. facility, which contained exhibits for The NACS Show, is submerged.
Benson said it won't be that difficult for MC2 to rebuild the exhibits. He couldn't say the same for New Orleans. "Who knows when it's going to be ready for our type of commerce? It's too bad."
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