Convention Meets Leisure: A Few Destinations on a Dime

Whether it's the Southern hospitality of Louisiana's Shreveport and nearby Bossier City, the Missouri city of Branson surrounded by the natural beauty of the Ozark Mountains or the nonstop nightlife, gambling and attractions of Las Vegas, there are plenty of popular destination for vacationers. What sometimes suprises people is that some of them are also right for tradeshows and meetings — and can be done on a budget.

Branson, which has a brand new convention center, and Shreveport-Bossier City, with a relatively new one as well, are both particularly keen to do what it takes to draw the business crowd. And in Las Vegas, where there's plenty of competition, a number of venues stay in the game by offering low rates to tradeshow organizers and meeting planners.

Tradeshow Week editors take a look at how these cities can be affordable options for tradeshows and meetings.

With a convention center that's just over a year-and-a-half old, a new 313-room Hilton-branded anchor hotel and a city that offers plenty of entertainment options — all at affordable prices — Shreveport, and Bossier City across the Red River, have plenty to show off.

Now, the neighboring cities just need to let tradeshow managers and corporate and meeting planners in on everything they have to offer.

"It's a matter of getting the word out," said Debbi Foshee, director of sales and marketing for SMG, the management company that runs the Shreveport Convention Center.

SMG books events in the center less than 18 months in advance of opening and the Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau books anything further out than that, a typical arrangement for most privately managed but publicly owned centers.

The center opened its doors in January 2006, just four months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans (340 miles away) and the Alabama Coast. Foshee said all of the focus on Louisiana made people aware of other parts of the state, the Shreveport-Bossier area included, and now space exists to attract larger groups.

The center has 95,000 square feet of column-free space in the main exhibit hall with a 30-foot ceiling that can be divided into three sections, as well as an 18,000 sq. ft. ballroom and 10 meeting rooms.

"When you talk to some people, they have no idea we can accommodate certain-sized groups," Foshee said. So, both her team and the CTB's have been busy drumming up business.

While some national groups have signed on since the center opened, primarily consumer-focused boating and home and garden shows, most of the bookings have been state or regional events. According to Foshee, there were 135 events in 2006, and 198 are budgeted for 2007.

Unlike situations in other cities that split the sales of the center between the bureau and a private company, there are few turf wars between SMG and the Shreveport-Bossier CTB.

Foshee said, "Whoever gets the lead first goes with it." After all, at the end of the day, both entities are after the same thing — a fully booked center.

"Our niche so far has been corporate and SMERF (social, military, educational, religious and fraternal) events," said Kim Brice, vice president of convention marketing at the Shreveport-Bossier CTB.

Both Foshee and Brice said Shreveport and Bossier City were not only affordable — the average daily room rate during the week hovers around $70, there are no unions to contend with and restaurants are very reasonable — but there's also a lot to do outside of the "convention center box," as Brice called it.

"First of all, there's the Southern hospitality," she said. "Our location is also convenient, and we understand a destination is anything but a box, so we sell the culture also."

Five hours north of New Orleans and less than three hours from Dallas, Brice said, the area is "a little cowboy and a little Cajun."

There's also plenty of affordable shopping, including outlet stores at the Louisiana Boardwalk across the Red River in Bossier City, historical tours, live music throughout the week and a number of annual festivals.

"There are things for people to enjoy or experience while they are here for a convention," Brice said.

And, to top it off, there's riverboat gambling which, as anybody who has been to Las Vegas knows all too well, can draw a crowd too.

—Rachel Wimberly

Tucked into the Ozark Mountains in Missouri, Branson primarily is known for its 50-plus live-performance theaters, three nearby lakes and 12 championship golf courses.

"Everything that we offer here has a wonderful value," said Lynn Berry, director of public relations at the Branson Convention & Visitors Bureau.

But the city has begun to make its mark as a meeting and convention destination — plus tourist attraction — by offering a range of pricing on venues and hotels. Rates range from $59 to $399 for the nearly 19,000 hotel rooms in the city, Berry added.

Vienna Bowling, director of convention and meeting sales at the CVB, said she can find deals that are even better than that for certain groups.

"There's such a wide range of properties," Bowling added, "I can find a home for almost anybody."

And one of those homes is the newest. The Branson Convention Center opens this month, featuring a 50,000 square foot exhibit hall and a 23,000 sq. ft. ballroom. The adjacent Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel also recently opened.

"It was just the perfect time," Berry said of the new convention center. Branson has other venues, including about 30 hotels with meeting space.

"It ranges from small boardrooms up to Chateau on the Lake with 50,000 sq. ft. of space," Bowling added. Many of the theaters also are open to meetings and exhibitions looking for unique settings, she said.

Most of the conventions interested in Branson are from the social, military, education, religious and fraternal (SMERF) sectors, Bowling said.

But it's the convention center local officials are counting on to attract more groups than ever before.

"It adds a much larger operation," Berry said.

For Branson, being an affordable meeting destination was a goal, she added, because "more often than not, people tag on a weekend if it's a great destination."

Hilton Hotels sells the convention center space and so far only a few shows have finalized their contracts for events to be hosted there.

Log Home & Timber Frame Expo, a show for the log- and timber-home buying and building process held 14 times a year in different cities in the United States, will be staged for the first time in Branson Nov. 2–4.

"Occasionally we like to do destination cities, like Branson or Vegas," said Cathy Shea, expo manager for F + W Publications, which owns the show.

So far, she said, the strategy and the new destination have panned out for the show.

"Exhibitor sales for the Branson show have just been phenomenal," she added. It's gone so well that the show has already booked more dates at the Branson Convention Center next April.

Berry said Branson's appeal and affordability partly is due to location.

"It's centrally located in the middle of the United States," she added, making it easy for people from all over the country to get to.

"There's so many options," Bowling said, noting, as an example, that the city has more than 400 restaurants to choose from.

—Stephanie Corbin

The current average daily room rate at Wynn Las Vegas is $311. At the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino it's $266.

Those figures don't make Las Vegas sound like an affordable destination, but even at a time when Las Vegas hotel room rates are soaring 15 percent or more a year, budget-conscious tradeshow organizers can still find hotel rooms for their attendees for less than $100, sometimes for even under $50, a night.

Of course, you can help yourself by booking early and by being flexible on dates, willing to negotiate and possibly prepared to book your venue in the summer months or in December (after the National Finals Rodeo Dec. 6–15, that is).

On the Las Vegas Strip, two Old Vegas meeting locations still hold forth and fit the affordable category.

The larger venue, at the north end of the Strip, is the Riviera Hotel & Casino with 90,000 square feet of exhibit space and 135,300 sq. ft. of meeting space, including a 10,000 sq. ft. "room with a view" atop the Riviera Monaco Tower. The property's average daily room rate is $80, and a number of amateur sporting groups (think dart and pool players), government agencies and associations call the Riviera their home away from home.

Riviera Convention Sales Director Alan Fields said, regardless of the Riviera's on-again, off-again ownership situation, the facility is currently upgrading all its guest rooms and plans to retain its place in the affordable niche.

Fields admitted that the Riviera is short on fountains and expensive artwork, but he is nevertheless booking groups into the next decade. He agreed that negotiating is part of the reservation process."If a group is large, spending heavily on food and beverage, we'll see what we can do in terms of perks," Fields said.

Down the street, in the heart of the Strip, is the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino, a Harrah's Entertinament property known for its auto museum, Legends entertainment and a Las Vegas Monorail stop. The Imperial Palace boasts value-oriented pricing (less than $100 a night) and 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. The owners' plans for the Imperial Palace have been the subject of speculation, but no announcements have been made.

Off the Strip, but with free transportation to it, the 10-year-old Orleans Hotel and Casino has 40,000 sq. ft. of convention, banquet and meeting space, plus an additional 10,000 sq. ft. of space available at the Orleans Arena. This is a popular location for groups that want a complete destination (at the Orleans that means movies, bowling, spa, entertainment, video arcade and multiple restaurants), but flexibility is the key here: The best room prices (under $100) are on weeknights. The Orleans offers shuttle buses to the sister Gold Coast Hotel and the Las Vegas Strip.

In downtown Las Vegas, the Golden Nugget is still the place to be, with weekday rates under $100 for an AAA four-diamond facility. A new Grand Ballroom accommodating 1,300 guests, scheduled for completion at the end of the year, will increase meeting space from its current 20,500 sq. ft. to more than 31,000 sq. ft.

Another location that's about a 20-minute shuttle ride from the Strip, but has more options for show organizers and meeting planners, is the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. With 80,000 sq. ft. of divisible exhibit space, 50,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and a 30,000 sq. ft. arena in its equestrian center, the facility is already home to numerous trade, public and corporate events. General Motors, Burger King and Mrs. Fields are among a growing group of companies that regularly use it for their events.

Flexibility with dates is also important at South Point. Maureen Robinson, sales director for the property, pointed out that South Point is a one-owner hotel — which helps.

"I love working for Michael Gaughan," she said. "He trusts us. We can make and carry out decisions quickly."

South Point is not within walking distance of the Strip, so a shuttle is available to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Robinson uses her lower room and catering rates as major selling points.

"One group saved so much money booking with us," she said, "that incoming attendees were given a $100 gaming chip to start their visit."

Moving down in price even further are two way-off-Strip hotels that are part of the 10-property Station Casinos group. Station Casinos' newest venues have room rates starting at $150 a night, but Palace Station, west of the Strip, with 20,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, advertises room rates starting at $40 a night plus shuttle service to the Strip. Texas Station, in North Las Vegas, with 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, offers room rates starting at $35 a night.

For those willing to go even further to save money, yet find low room rates, the ability to walk among eight contiguous casinos (seven of which have meeting space), golf and the Colorado River, there is Laughlin, Nev., 90 minutes from Las Vegas.

If Laughlin is not on a meeting planner's radar now, it may be this October when a new CBS television series, "Viva Laughlin," debuts on Sundays following "60 Minutes."

The largest hotel in the river town is the Aquarius, formerly the Flamingo Laughlin. With 30,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, the Aquarius also is the site of a 3,300-seat outdoor amphitheater, the town's largest concert venue.

Michelle Beggs, marketing manager for Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort, owned by the town's namesake, has 27,400 sq. ft. of meeting space to sell. She touted her facility's room rates ($25 to $49 weekdays) and "its small-town, laid-back atmosphere." The property has been host to a number of groups and fraternities, one of the most memorable being the Western Regional Clown Assn.

One proviso: Laughlin is typically about 10 degrees warmer than Las Vegas, so the summer months do not invite outdoor activities. Still, book early, Beggs said, and for the very best deals, schedule your group for December.

—Diane Taylor