New Orleans' Convention Center: A New Strategy
Morial, CVB offering freebies for events set for '08 through '11
By Stephanie Corbin -- Tradeshow Week, 8/18/2008
It's been three years this month since Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast region, displacing hundreds of thousands and devastating one of America's most famous cities – New Orleans.
It's also been almost three years of cleanup, revitalization and rebuilding to bring the Crescent City back to its former glory and former status as a leading tradeshow city.
“We're in a situation that no convention center has ever faced before,” said Bob Johnson, president and general manager of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
And now, convention and tourism officials have unveiled a new strategy stocked with freebies to bring conventions and meetings with more than 1,000 peak sleeping rooms to New Orleans.
“We're treating it like a big fam' trip,” Johnson said.
The program, called ExtraOrdinary Experiences, offers complimentary general session space, exhibit space and breakout rooms at the convention center. And there's even more, said J. Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau:
- complimentary Wi-Fi in public spaces
- cyber cafe with computers, Internet access, charging stations and beverages
- refreshment breaks
- carpeting for the general session and food and beverage areas
New Orleans has had difficulty attracting events because many people still perceive the city as it was depicted in the days immediately following the hurricane, Johnson said. This incentive package is designed to reintroduce New Orleans to meeting and event planners.
To take advantage of the complimentary package, Johnson said, space must be booked before the end of this year for dates during certain periods accounting for about half the time between now and the end of 2011.
“We've got some periods of time that are very, very low occupancy right now,” he added.
Many previously booked citywide conventions and tradeshows found new sites while the convention center and hotels underwent renovation after Hurricane Katrina, Johnson said. The city fell out of the rotation cycle of many conventions that were scheduled for New Orleans in 2010 and 2011, he added.
Johnson said the convention center is experiencing an occupancy rate this year that is close to pre-Katrina levels and he expects the same in 2009. However, occupancy projections for 2010 and 2011 are around 40 percent, he added.
At the Morial CC, 70 percent occupancy is considered full occupancy; 50 to 60 percent is the average, Johnson said.
“(The incentives) really makes New Orleans the highest value proposition,” Perry added.
Plus, it will show meetings and conventions that take the offer that New Orleans has healed, Johnson said.
“Come see us, come see what we're able to do,” he added.
Perry said while the incentives might cost the city money in the short term, the moves will pay off in the long term, and no matter what, New Orleans will benefit from the economic impact dollars right away.
“We feel that we will gain and keep customers that we will keep for years,” Perry added.
