Hospitality Options: Keep Them Close

Say you're in a certain city for a tradeshow, and you want to have dinner and a little fun.

Increasingly, you can forget about shuttle buses and taxis. Who needs them when more and more there's a plethora of dining, housing and entertainment options surrounding a convention center? Having such conveniences nearby is a big advantage, not only for tradeshow attendees, but also for show managers who use them as selling points when promoting their shows. The convenience factor is a big draw.

Cities are buying in. While every destination wants to offer a wide variety of choices to out-of-town visitors, a few good examples are Los Angeles, Rosemont and Sydney, Australia – the first two are works-in-progress, and the third is the model that many other cities aspire to. In every case, the point is to offer a lot of choices mere steps from the convention center.

The most ambitious is Los Angeles' massive – and costly – L.A. Live project, much of which already is completed. Its goal is to address the long-standing concerns about the formerly downtrodden downtown area surrounding the Los Angeles Convention Center. Construction is proceeding on the multi-million-dollar project, that will include a long-sought convention headquarters hotel, the lack of which has been a major obstacle in the city's efforts to attract tradeshows and conventions. Other new features are as much for local residents as for visiting attendees, and they are bringing people – and money – back to a downtown area that hasn't seen much action in a very long time.

Rosemont also is moving right along on completion of its entertainment district. It's on a smaller scale than Los Angeles' revitalization but, similar to L.A., many of Rosemont's attractions already are open for business.

Sydney's Darling Harbour is the granddaddy of the three. Darling Harbour and the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre both came into existence in 1988. The district features many of the attractions that other cities have to keep attendees close to a convention center. However, the district's location near downtown Sydney, the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge makes it easy for attendees to go farther afield if they wish.

Los Angeles was plagued for years with a downtown that emptied out at the end of each weekday as workers headed for the suburbs, and a convention center that didn't have a hotel within safe walking distance. But the downtown area has gentrified in the past few years. Tens of thousands of people have moved into condominiums and lofts, and Los Angeles officials have taken major steps to accelerate that growth.

With much fanfare, the Nokia Theatre opened last year in the area immediately adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center, and that's just the beginning. The theater is part of a massive project called L.A. Live, a sports and entertainment district that's touted as the savior of downtown L.A. It will include residential units, as well as hotels, restaurants and other major attractions, all designed to attract locals and out-of-towners alike.

According to Michael Krouse, senior vice president of sales and client services for LA Inc., the Los Angeles convention and visitors bureau, L.A. Live eventually will occupy 27 acres of downtown space – that's 5.6 million square feet – and is expected to attract 20 million visitors annually. It will feature 20,000 sq. ft. of LED signage and displays that meeting planners and tradeshow organizers will have access to.

“It's Times Square kinds of stuff,” Krouse said. “Hollywood on steroids.”

Cost of the entire project? A cool $4.2 billion. It's the desire to attract more business, more downtown revitalization projects and more residential development that's driving L.A. Live, Krouse added.

L.A. Live is centered at Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street. The convention center is between the Staples Center and the L.A. Live project. Krouse said 11th Street could be closed off for event space. A new headquarters hotel, long desired by convention center officials, show managers and attendees, also will be part of the project.

In addition, some land was reserved for future convention center expansion. The convention center's West Hall, directly behind the Staples Center, will be the site of any new expansion, according to the bureau.

A signage package on the west exterior face of the convention center ties together the new and the older elements of the area, Krouse said, including the nearby Staples Center. Conventioneers will feel as if the entire area is one complex.

The new Nokia Theatre, which featured the Eagles and Dixie Chicks as its first acts, already has 200 event days booked for convention-related general sessions, events and concerts. The theater, which seats 7,100, hosted the recent “American Idol” finals. Other customers also are finding uses for it as well.

For instance, the Natl. Business Travel Assn. Intl. Convention & Exposition July 27-31 will include an event at the Nokia Plaza, which offers 40,000 sq. ft. of tentable space. Afterward, attendees will go to a Cindy Lauper concert at the adjacent Nokia Theatre.

It's a real turnaround for a city whose downtown was deserted after dark for years.

“When I take customers into the marketing suite and they see a model of the project, it's very dramatic,” Krouse said. “We show samples of the signage and video of the development. They can then walk right across the street and see the project, and that there are many events they can do, including dine-arounds.”

The project will include 14 restaurants, among them Rosa Mexicano, an 18,000 sq. ft. Farm of Beverly Hills, the Yard House and a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. There's also Club Nokia, which has a House of Blues feel. Other attractions will include an ESPN Zone; a 14-screen Regal Cinema, featuring 140,000 sq. ft. available for meeting space and movie premieres; and a Grammy Museum, with its own 200-seat theater – all available to meeting planners. In addition, such venues as Lucky Strike Bowling and the Conga Room will be part of L.A. Live.

Krouse added, “There's no need for shuttles, which is a big cost saving for event managers. It's self-contained, like the Anaheim model.”

An 870-room J.W. Marriott and a 123-room Ritz-Carlton hotel will be part of L.A. Live and adjacent to the convention center's West Hall. The hotels will feature 87,000 sq. ft. of combined meeting space.

Existing hotels are upgrading. For instance, as part of its $10 million renovation, the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown completed an upgrade of its 485 guest rooms.

Krouse said Los Angeles booked 44 conventions and 700,000 room nights so far this year, representing $400 million in economic impact. In 2008, the LACC will host 22 conventions. Total room nights booked rose 800 percent between 2005 and 2008. More than 60 percent of the 700,000 room nights represent conventions coming to L.A. in the short term, before 2011.

“What is being done in L.A. has huge potential to breathe new life into the L.A. convention market and the entire downtown area,” said Kevin Johnstone, director of tradeshows for NAMM, the Intl. Music Products Assn., whose annual convention, the NAMM Show, is held in Anaheim. “The addition of entertainment opportunities, new hotels in a variety of price points, a revitalized area surrounding the convention center, restaurants, theaters and concert halls will swing the perception of the Los Angeles Convention Center away from a facility blocks away from anything and surrounded by urban blight, to an amazing entertainment destination in an exciting location with great hotels and a beautiful convention center smack dab in the middle of it all.”

Johnstone said, “Unfortunately, I predict that the city will find the existing convention center too small and fragmented, and (it) will need to be expanded almost immediately – hopefully, with exhibit space that joins the two halls together.”

Krouse said, “Maybe we're not Las Vegas, which has millions of square feet of meeting and exhibition space, and we can't compete with that or Chicago's. But we're tired of being a little fish in a big pond and, as a West Coast destination, we can definitely compete with San Diego, Anaheim and San Francisco.”

He added, “We are getting some of Las Vegas' business, and I'm enjoying cleaning their clocks. We've become a first-tier city, something many never thought we'd be.”1396927554

Construction is on schedule for Rosemont's entertainment district, which surrounds the 4,000-seat Rosemont Theatre and is adjacent to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. The district offers an array of dining, lodging and entertainment options, including a brand-new Muvico 18-theater complex, to tradeshow attendees at the facility located near Chicago's O'Hare Intl. Airport.

Two trendy hotels also are part of the new digs at Rosemont.

Construction on the aloft Chicago O'Hare, a W Hotel, is near completion in the entertainment district. The 251-room hotel is a high-design, fashion-forward brand, according to Director of Sales Violet Banach. The property, which opens July 17, will be different than any other in the O'Hare market, Banach said, with wireless service throughout and large flat-panel, high-definition televisions in the rooms, positioned for optimal viewing and listening. Laptop service is instant plug-in and direct.

Construction on the Intercontinental Chicago O'Hare is ahead of schedule, according to the property's general manager, David Hall. He said the project is generating a high level of interest, especially from meeting planners, because of the size of the hotel and the fact that it is a luxury property. With 556 guest rooms, 70 suites and 65,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, the Intercontinental will easily accommodate all kinds of groups. The hotel will take individual bookings beginning Oct. 4.

One of the hotel's special attractions will be its art collection, on display in both guest rooms and public areas. And the hotel will feature three adjacent restaurants: McCormick and Schmick's, the Capital Grille and the Osteria di Tramonto, named for Rick Tramonto, a noted Chicago chef and restaurateur. In addition, a T.G. I. Friday's restaurant just opened in the Rosemont district.1396927554

Perched on the edge of picturesque Darling Harbour, a large pedestrian-friendly waterfront district just a stone's throw from downtown Sydney, Australia, the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre is a classic example of a facility located smack dab in the middle of a busy entertainment district benefiting from that proximity.

The convention center, which offers 27,200 square meters (292,700 sq. ft.) of exhibit space, and the nearby Darling Harbour precinct both officially opened in 1988.

The development of the precinct and the creation of the convention center was the vision of the New South Wales state government, which recognized the enormous potential of the abandoned dockyard area.

According to Amanda Anker, the convention center's director of sales and marketing, as a dedicated tourism precinct, Darling Harbour is home to some of Australia's top attractions, including the Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, the Powerhouse Museum, IMAX Theatre and the Australian Maritime Museum. The district also offers more than 100 restaurants, cafes and food outlets; more than 4,000 hotel and serviced apartment rooms surrounding the harbor; and 13,000 more hotel rooms nearby. The convention center sits amid all this.

But how does the SCEC benefit, and how are Darling Harbour's attractions – all the hotels and restaurants – used as a marketing tool for the convention center?

“The center's Darling Harbour location wins huge accolades from our guests,” Anker said. “They love the vitality of the area, and the fact that it's home to so many activities. Its central location means guests can arrive at the center by car, light rail, monorail, water taxi, ferry or by foot, with thousands of hotel rooms located in the Darling Harbour area.”

At the end of a busy day at the convention center, she added, visitors can enjoy the restaurants and clubs, go shopping, step straight onto a Harbour Cruise liner, check out one of the many attractions or enjoy some quiet time in the Chinese Gardens.

And, although there are no hard statistics to indicate how much convention business Darling Harbour is actually responsible for, Anker said center officials know from client feedback that the SCEC's prime positioning in the Darling Harbour precinct and on the edge of the downtown area is an enormous draw for its exhibition customers, because it makes their shows readily accessible to so many visitors.

Robby Clark, event manager for the Intl. Motor Show, which draws close to 300,000 visitors a year, said his event is held at the center because of the convenience of the venue and the accessibility of entertainment in the Darling Harbour precinct.

“There is no doubt that Darling Harbour's many attractions make it easier to draw people to our show each year,” Clark said. “It really makes for a great day out for all attendees.”