Alternative Destinations: Cities You Don't Know

What makes an event destination the next hot city to take an event to? Maybe it's in a region with particular appeal to a certain industry. Maybe it's the convenience or the low cost. Sometimes it's a city with sizzle; the kind of place show participants can't wait to get to. There are differing opinions.

Mary Beth Rebedeau, president of The Rebedeau Group, said the hottest up-and-coming destinations will be those with direct flights or good train service and easy access from the airport or train station. With fuel prices skyrocketing, regionalization becomes the name of the game.

What may have been traditionally considered a second- or third-tier city will become attractive to event producers who are sensitive to the fact that people are just not interested in straying too far from home, Rebedeau added.

Philip McKay, president and CEO of PPM Media, said in the future, the hottest destinations will be resorts close to major hubs. He also agreed with Rebedeau that secondary cities will see increased use by show managers. His money was on cities such as Hartford, Conn.; Cincinnati; Memphis, Tenn.; and Long Beach, Calif.

On the other hand, Tony Calanca, executive vice president of exhibitions for Advanstar Communications, chose classic destinations, and said Las Vegas and Orlando will continue to be the most popular tradeshow destinations now and in the future.

“As the industry has changed, providing a prevalence of shows with national or local draws, the local shows run in their local markets, and the national shows, since they draw from around the country and internationally, tend to go to cities that are attractive,” Calanca said.

Ample airlift with low-cost tickets, large visitor infrastructure, reasonably moderate costs of living, plenty of exhibit and meeting space, hotel rooms at decent rates and lots of restaurants and entertainment options, he added, make those cities attractive.

Still, several cities seek loftier status.

Lucas Oil Stadium will open later this month in Indianapolis, featuring a retractable roof. Home to the Indianapolis Colts, the stadium also will offer 179,000 square feet of exhibit space, said Chris Gahl, senior media relations manager for the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Assn.

The adjacent RCA Dome was leveled to make room for the Indiana Convention Center expansion, which will double in size by 2010. The expanded center and new stadium will have 745,300 sq. ft. of exhibit space and 83 meeting rooms that span 127,270 sq. ft. – all for the low, low price of $990 million.

“The PricewaterhouseCoopers study we commissioned in 2004 showed that our expansion will enable the city to host two city-wides at the same time,” Gahl said. “ (Also) by increasing our ratio of meeting to exhibit space, we are catering to a need we continue to hear from meeting planners: more space to hold educational sessions in addition to the tradeshow.”

Until now, the Raleigh, N.C., area didn't have the venue space available to actively recruit meetings and conventions; the Raleigh Civic Center (torn down to build the Raleigh Convention Center) primarily was used for consumer shows. With the convention center scheduled to open in September, the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau and the convention center have recruited everyone they can think of, but have had the most success with state and regional associations, said Ryan Smith, the bureau's director of communications.

“The reception in the D.C. market has been so positive that the Raleigh CVB opened a D.C. satellite office to focus on the national association market,” she added. “The center has also had major success in the international market by securing prestigious international conferences such as the World Burn Congress and the Intl. Assn. of Science Parks.”

The new facility will span 500,000 sq. ft., including a 150,000 sq. ft. exhibit hall, and 20 meeting rooms that total more than 32,000 sq. ft.

In Nashville, Tenn., a new convention center that will replace the current Nashville Convention Center will be just what the city needs to attract new business. Charles L. Starks, executive director of the Nashville Convention Center, is currently selling space for the new center, scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2013. The new facility will have 375,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and 150,000 sq. ft. of meeting rooms.

Starks said he is talking to customers who have outgrown the current Nashville Convention Center and those who expressed interest in Nashville in the past, but could not meet there because of the current facility's size.