FloridaFuture
July 6th, 2007, 02:45 PM
Conventional Wisdom PROS OF TAMPA CONS OF TAMPA TRAFFIC COMPETITION CONVENTION HOTELS ENTERTAINMENT
By TED JACKOVICS, The Tampa Tribune
Published: July 6, 2007
TAMPA - The Tampa Convention Center is on target to surpass annual revenue expectations despite more competition from the Gaylord Palms in Orlando and offers of near-free rent by other convention centers to attract off-season conferences.
The local convention center has booked 49 groups this year, the most in 10 years. Revenue from renting convention center space and concessions should reach $8.1 million for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, $2 million more than expected, said John Moors, city of Tampa administrator for the convention center.
Those figures do not include the millions of dollars that visitors generate for local shops, restaurants and hotels, such as the International Association of Administrative Professionals conference, which will bring 2,200 visitors booking about 1,100 rooms for five nights beginning July 28.
That session will be one of the largest this month, designating the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina as its headquarters hotel while also using rooms at three other downtown hotels: Hyatt Regency Tampa, Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel and The Westin Tampa Harbour Hotel.
Like most major conferences, it was booked years ago, in March 2001. However, Tampa's strategy also relies on recruiting smaller conferences with shorter lead times.
Today's convention payoff can be attributed to a combination of two factors, local and competing convention center officials agree.
One is the sales job that the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau has done in promoting attributes of a city that has become more appealing to visitors.
'We are seeing Tampa is taking a turn for the better,' Moors said. 'The visitors bureau is pumping good business into various segments of the city, not just the convention center, but at Ybor City, Hyde Park, Channelside, the International Mall, West Shore, the airport. All of things make Tampa a more saleable destination.'
Marketing Effort Praised
Jacksonville city and business officials recently took notice of Tampa's convention center success and visited in the spring to generate a report on how to improve their city's prospects.
'Tampa is marketed as a multi-faceted city surrounded by water, plentiful recreation, great food, abundant nightlife and a variety of things to do,' the Jacksonville report said in praising a Tampa Bay visitors bureau video commercial.
Gary Gotling, director of sales and marketing for the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville and a former Hyatt executive in Tampa, reported Tampa had far more 'pros' than 'cons' in marketing itself as a convention city, including downtown's aggressive residential growth, which he said is creating more demand for shopping and restaurants.
Of course, many Sunbelt cities could make similar claims, and fierce convention competition requires more than an attractive ambiance to ensure an economically viable convention business.
That leads to a second factor that's played a key role in Tampa's success: the ability of both the visitors bureau and convention center staffs to 'layer' its conferences at the city-owned convention center, which ranks among the smaller, or second-tier, facilities nationwide. Tampa's center offers 600,000 square feet of space, including 200,000 square feet for exhibits.
Las Vegas, San Diego, Chicago and Orlando have centers larger than 2 million square feet. So Tampa's lack of plentiful space makes it difficult for crews to set up and accommodate a new conference while the one in session is phasing down.
But sales teams from the visitors bureau and convention center are carefully scheduling their sales to maximize usage, in part by being extremely attentive to small groups.
'What you are seeing with the convention center is the fruits of our labors from two to three years ago,' said Steve Hayes, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay visitors bureau, which markets Hillsborough County.
'Most people think when you book the convention center, someone takes over the whole building. That's not always so. So we also look at local business and our people are out there booking,' Hayes said.
Convention centers, in particular the private ones run by hotels, are circumspect about what deals they offer meeting planners. But it's well-known that even some city-operated convention centers offer deals, especially in the off-season, that trade cheap rent for the opportunity to fill hotel rooms, Hayes said.
Gaylord Palms Is New Rival
The formidable new competition is generated by the megahotels, such as the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, which has 1,406 guest rooms and an adjoining convention center with 400,000 square feet of space, including a 178,000-square-foot exhibition hall.
'Imagine a stationary cruise liner,' the Jacksonville report said about the Gaylord hotels outside Disney, and In Dallas-Fort Worth, Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C. 'The meeting planner is offered one-stop shopping, a one-venue site visit and one contract with a plethora of services and amenities.'
Tampa's scenario requires selling what the city offers to busy conference attendees once they've finished their day's work, in addition to the convention center amenities, Hayes said. 'You want to be able to walk out of a convention and have a variety of things to do and that's what we've been able to offer in Tampa.'
Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at tjackovics@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7817.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/06/bz-conventional-wisdom-pros-of-tampa-cons-of-tampa/?news-money
By TED JACKOVICS, The Tampa Tribune
Published: July 6, 2007
TAMPA - The Tampa Convention Center is on target to surpass annual revenue expectations despite more competition from the Gaylord Palms in Orlando and offers of near-free rent by other convention centers to attract off-season conferences.
The local convention center has booked 49 groups this year, the most in 10 years. Revenue from renting convention center space and concessions should reach $8.1 million for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, $2 million more than expected, said John Moors, city of Tampa administrator for the convention center.
Those figures do not include the millions of dollars that visitors generate for local shops, restaurants and hotels, such as the International Association of Administrative Professionals conference, which will bring 2,200 visitors booking about 1,100 rooms for five nights beginning July 28.
That session will be one of the largest this month, designating the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina as its headquarters hotel while also using rooms at three other downtown hotels: Hyatt Regency Tampa, Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel and The Westin Tampa Harbour Hotel.
Like most major conferences, it was booked years ago, in March 2001. However, Tampa's strategy also relies on recruiting smaller conferences with shorter lead times.
Today's convention payoff can be attributed to a combination of two factors, local and competing convention center officials agree.
One is the sales job that the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau has done in promoting attributes of a city that has become more appealing to visitors.
'We are seeing Tampa is taking a turn for the better,' Moors said. 'The visitors bureau is pumping good business into various segments of the city, not just the convention center, but at Ybor City, Hyde Park, Channelside, the International Mall, West Shore, the airport. All of things make Tampa a more saleable destination.'
Marketing Effort Praised
Jacksonville city and business officials recently took notice of Tampa's convention center success and visited in the spring to generate a report on how to improve their city's prospects.
'Tampa is marketed as a multi-faceted city surrounded by water, plentiful recreation, great food, abundant nightlife and a variety of things to do,' the Jacksonville report said in praising a Tampa Bay visitors bureau video commercial.
Gary Gotling, director of sales and marketing for the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville and a former Hyatt executive in Tampa, reported Tampa had far more 'pros' than 'cons' in marketing itself as a convention city, including downtown's aggressive residential growth, which he said is creating more demand for shopping and restaurants.
Of course, many Sunbelt cities could make similar claims, and fierce convention competition requires more than an attractive ambiance to ensure an economically viable convention business.
That leads to a second factor that's played a key role in Tampa's success: the ability of both the visitors bureau and convention center staffs to 'layer' its conferences at the city-owned convention center, which ranks among the smaller, or second-tier, facilities nationwide. Tampa's center offers 600,000 square feet of space, including 200,000 square feet for exhibits.
Las Vegas, San Diego, Chicago and Orlando have centers larger than 2 million square feet. So Tampa's lack of plentiful space makes it difficult for crews to set up and accommodate a new conference while the one in session is phasing down.
But sales teams from the visitors bureau and convention center are carefully scheduling their sales to maximize usage, in part by being extremely attentive to small groups.
'What you are seeing with the convention center is the fruits of our labors from two to three years ago,' said Steve Hayes, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay visitors bureau, which markets Hillsborough County.
'Most people think when you book the convention center, someone takes over the whole building. That's not always so. So we also look at local business and our people are out there booking,' Hayes said.
Convention centers, in particular the private ones run by hotels, are circumspect about what deals they offer meeting planners. But it's well-known that even some city-operated convention centers offer deals, especially in the off-season, that trade cheap rent for the opportunity to fill hotel rooms, Hayes said.
Gaylord Palms Is New Rival
The formidable new competition is generated by the megahotels, such as the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, which has 1,406 guest rooms and an adjoining convention center with 400,000 square feet of space, including a 178,000-square-foot exhibition hall.
'Imagine a stationary cruise liner,' the Jacksonville report said about the Gaylord hotels outside Disney, and In Dallas-Fort Worth, Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C. 'The meeting planner is offered one-stop shopping, a one-venue site visit and one contract with a plethora of services and amenities.'
Tampa's scenario requires selling what the city offers to busy conference attendees once they've finished their day's work, in addition to the convention center amenities, Hayes said. 'You want to be able to walk out of a convention and have a variety of things to do and that's what we've been able to offer in Tampa.'
Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at tjackovics@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7817.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/06/bz-conventional-wisdom-pros-of-tampa-cons-of-tampa/?news-money