^{September 2001}

Skyrocketing population growth and convention center construction mark these 10 cities as the hottest markets for shows in the United States

By Lysa Allman-Baldwin

Over the past 10 years, cities have experienced impressive growth. Of the 280 metropolitan areas measured by Census 2000, more than 91 percent saw their population increase. But the record-setter is Las Vegas, sporting an astounding 83.3 percent population growth in the 1990s. And that isn’t the city’s only big number — it contains about 127,000 hotel rooms and almost 10 million square feet of meeting space.

What makes Las Vegas so special? The destination pretty much speaks for itself. The city was built on the tourist and entertainment industries. And when you consider that every hotel room added generates about three new jobs — one directly in casinos and two indirectly supporting the casinos in such areas as taxi drivers, laundry and construction — according to Manny Cortez, President/CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, it’s no wonder he maintains that “People are creating the expansion.”

Las Vegas is a hot destination for shows. And he says that the brand is everything when it comes to Las Vegas. “People come here because they’re looking to conduct business, but they also want to combine a little pleasure with it,” says Cortez. “And with our numbers, we’re able to accommodate almost everyone who comes to Las Vegas.”

But Las Vegas isn’t the only U.S. city experiencing rocketing growth. In fact, the 10 cities EXPO magazine chose as the fastest-growing cities for expositions faced some stiff competition. To assign cities this unique honor, the editors of EXPO compiled mounds of stats that we knew pointed to a growing market for shows. We investigated new convention centers and expansions, measured the growth in personal income, factored in airport expansions, tracked hotel development and considered population growth. After sifting through data from dozens of growing cities across the United States, these 10 cities stood out as the hottest destinations for shows.

FunTown, USA

Since it opened in 1967, the Anaheim Convention Center has undergone three major expansions, each adding another major exhibit hall plus meeting space. The most recent addition, completed last December, was much more than an expansion, according to Elaine Cali, Communications Director for the Anaheim/Orange County Visitors and Convention Bureau. The expanded facility was part of The Anaheim Resort, a complex that includes Disney’s California Adventure theme park and Downtown Disney. “Essentially, we have a whole new product to market,” she says. “The convention center was really a total redesign from the inside out to accommodate more show and meeting space.” The result is 40 percent more facility space, at 1.6 million total square feet, with about 815,000 square feet of exhibit space.

Cali credits the latest expansion with attracting many more shows to the city, with some groups booking as far ahead as 2017. “We started the year with a bang,” she says. “The first major show we had was in January, with 55,000 attendees. Our bookings are up about 20 percent, and we’ll be at 1.2 million in attendance for 2001. So it should be a record year for us.”

Exhibition and convention attendees are projected to generate about $1.3 billion in spending this year throughout Orange County. In addition, new hotel developments continue to pop up all over the area, with 48,000 rooms county-wide and nearly 19,000 in the Anaheim Resort district.



A Real Georgia Peach

When Atlanta won the right to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, the city went all out on major capital improvement projects to expand its airports, hotels, facilities and venues to accommodate the estimated 2 million people from around the worldwho descended upon this Southern jewel. And now, five years later, the convention and trade show industry is reaping the benefits.

“What followed after the Olympics was the total focus and redevelopment of downtown, and development will continue for the next eight to 10 years,” explains Carey Rountree, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Following in the tracks of all this growth, Atlanta has seen the number of conventions and attendees nearly double since 1990 to about 3,200 and 3.5 million, respectively. And the city’s 10 major facilities, with a combined exhibition capability of more than 2.3 million square feet, allow for almost any size function. 

Convention centers seem to be expanding to accommodate the growth. The Georgia World Congress Center is scheduled to grow from 950,000 square feet to about 1.4 million in Fall 2002. Meanwhile, renovations at Hartsfield International Airport have given rise to the relocation and renovation of the 350,000-square-foot Georgia International Convention Center, which will sit just a quarter mile from the airport and contain 400,000 total square feet of exhibit space when completed in mid-2003.



The Windy City

With its many museums and landmarks and O’Hare Airport’s status as a hub for many major airlines, Chicago hosts about 35,000 events annually, with more than 4.4 million attendees spending an estimated $5.3 billion during their stay.

Front and center in the facility arena is the McCormick Place Complex, which occupies more than 2.2 million square feet of exhibit space and will include McCormick Place West, an 800,000-square-foot addition targeted for completion in 2007. James Reilly, President and CEO of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, says this addition will prove particularly attractive to small to mid-sized events, and points out that 95 percent of shows held in Chicago require 500,000 square feet of space or less. 

Reilly also says the continued growth of its convention centers, hotel community and tourist attractions has helped Chicago remain a leading destination. “Perhaps the most important aspect is that we’ve managed that growth and are determined not to let Chicago get ‘too big’ in terms of how it feels to our customers and their attendees,” he says.

Hotel construction seems to be following the city’s growth trend, with almost $300 million in new development under way, including the new Hyatt Conference Center at McCormick Place that opened in August.



“Big D”

According to Census 2000, the Dallas population grew 18 percent, and personal earnings growth averaged 7.9 percent. These healthy numbers will help support the addition of 1 million square feet of exhibit space to the current 2 million square feet at the Dallas Convention Center. Scheduled for completion in 2002, the project will also add a 203,000-square-foot singular, column-free exhibit hall. 

One of the newer hotel ventures in town is the Opryland Hotel, opening in August 2003. With 1,508 rooms, as well as its own convention center boasting 400,000 square feet of pre-function, meeting and exhibition space, this hotel will considerably boost the city’s show capacity.

Greg Elam, Senior Vice President of Communications for the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, says the growth is awesome. “Dallas became a major convention city because of its focus on trade shows and has prospered by meeting the needs of that particular group of people,” he says. “With the expansion and renovation of the convention center and the recent expansion of several hotels, the Dallas package is large, flexible and greatly enhanced.”

Even the shopping scores big in Dallas, with more shopping centers per capita than any major city in America, according to the Dallas CVB. For something unique, visitors can tour the “underground,” three miles of underground tunnels and skybridges containing shops and restaurants.



A Shining Light in the Desert

In terms of population growth, Las Vegas is at the top of the list. With an 83.3 percent increase, it’s the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country, according to Census 2000. When you add to that an economic impact of 4 million conventioneers, 3,800 events that generated $4 billion last year and 36.7 million projected visitors this year, you can see how important numbers are to this city.

Las Vegas has long been a leading destination for trade shows and meetings, according to Rob Powers, Vice President of Communications for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “We’re expanding in response to demand, and there have been amazing changes in just the past few years in terms of adding new meeting and exhibit space,” he says.

The overall facility expansion figures here are staggering. The most notable is the Las Vegas Convention Center, which has 1.3 million square feet on one level and is welcoming a new two-story South Hall at year-end, expanding its capacity to 3.2 million square feet.

In addition, more than 100 hotels are adding anywhere from 900 to 500,000 square feet to their properties. The Mandalay Resort Group, for example, is building a 1.8 million-square-foot convention complex to serve its three hotel properties. When all the construction projects are completed, Las Vegas will have nearly 10 million square feet of convention and meeting space.



The City of Angels

The nation’s second most populous city, Los Angeles, grew 6 percent over the past 10 years, 8.4 percent if you include Riverside and Orange Counties. As a result of this population concentration, The City of Angels “has a built-in base for convention delegates, and its size and diversity make it a premier spot for shows,” says Madeline Kruzel, Associate Vice President of Client Services for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. “As a gateway city for travel, it is easy and affordable to get to from anywhere in the United States, and it’s also a popular destination for tourism. Both of these reasons explain how attendance records are often set in Los Angeles.”

The 54-acre complex downtown that holds the Los Angeles Convention and Staples Centers is undergoing two-phase construction of a sports and entertainment district. The project, which encompasses a 1,200-room convention “headquarters” hotel scheduled to be completed in 2004, and entertainment, retail, and restaurant venues to be completed between 2008 and 2010, is expected to be a catalyst for expanded convention and tourist activity for Southern California.

At the Los Angeles International Airport, ranked third in the world with more than 67 million travelers passing through its terminals last year, capital improvement plans now under consideration include a United Airlines terminal expansion. And at the Burbank Airport, 35 miles east of downtown, expansion and replacement of terminals is also underway.

And who doesn’t think of Hollywood when they think of Los Angeles? From Mann’s Chinese Theater to Universal Studios Hollywood, LA knows how to entertain visitors.



The Big Easy

The home of Mardi Gras has a favorite saying: Let the good times roll! But there’s much more to the city.

Last year, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center extended its contiguous exhibit space to 1.1 million square feet with Phase III of its expansion project. Phase IV, to be completed by year-end 2006, will add another half million square feet of space. In nearby Kenner (the airport area), the Pontchartrain Center has a new Belle Grove Plantation Ballroom that increases the center’s exhibition space to close to 46,000 square feet.

The city’s popularity shows in its concentration of hotels. Within the mile between the convention center and the Louisiana Superdome, for example, there are more than 20,000 hotel rooms. And by the end of this year, new developments will yield 32,000 rooms citywide.

This combination of expanded facilities and accommodations means that the city “can host larger and multiple trade shows simultaneously and help trade shows and associations set record-breaking attendances,” says Beverly Gianna, Vice President of Public Affairs for the Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.



The Big Apple

The record 37.4 million people who visited New York City last year (inclusive of the five boroughs) have fueled substantial new hotel developments with the addition of more than 3,000 rooms and another 1,700 expected by the end of 2001, bringing the total number of rooms citywide close to 69,000. They come to experience the fast pace of the city and its unique cultural mix.

To reflect this growth, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center may expand from 814,000-plus square feet to somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.3 million square feet of space. But for now, the proposal has been put on hold because the mayor wants to link the project to construction of a new stadium.

“New York City’s recent changes leading to its incredible renaissance have had a tremendous impact on the city’s trade show industry,” says Cristyne Nicholas, President and CEO of NYC & Co., the city’s official tourism marketing organization. “And this combination has helped make New York City one of the most exciting trade show destinations in the world.”

Finally, traveling to and from New York via John F. Kennedy Airport keeps getting better, thanks to the ongoing $140 million development project, which includes construction of a new terminal, roadway construction, new parking garages and a light-rail transit system. The project should finally land in 2003.



The Sunshine State

Walt Disney World isn’t the only draw for sunny Orlando. At the Orange County Convention Center, the existing 1.1 million-square-foot structure will be connected to a new facility, giving it close to 7 million square feet of exhibition, meeting and public space.

But don’t take this to mean that all the city wants is huge shows, as their bread-and-butter shows range from 350,000 to 500,000 square feet. “It’s a very easy trap that cities and centers 

fall into,” explains Bill Peeper, President of the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc. “All of this new exhibit space allows us greater flexibility to efficiently serve smaller groups.”

This new complex, targeted to open in Fall 2003, is credited in part with spawning 5,200 rooms of hotel construction, including Opryland Hotel. Slated to open in the first quarter of 2002, it will feature 400,000 square feet of meeting and pre-function space, including a 178,000-square-foot exhibit hall, as well as 1,400 guest rooms.

World Expo Park, in nearby Kissimmee, is expected to open in 2003 as home to the 1.2 million-square-foot World Expo Center and the 125,000-square-foot Osceola County Convention Center.



The City by the Bay

The almost overnight arrival, then abrupt departure of the hi-tech/dot-com ventures doesn’t seem to have adversely affected San Francisco. In fact, personal income here is still the highest in the country and an astounding 174 percent above the national average! And so far this year, exhibition and convention business has proven to be greater than that of either 1999 or 2000.

“I like to think of us as a three-legged stool: group/convention business, leisure travel and the business/corporate traveler. The latter segment has decreased, but luckily the other legs allow us to maintain steady occupancy,” says Mark Theis, Vice President of Conventions for the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

That stool is lending good support for the addition of Moscone West to the current Moscone Center North and South. Scheduled to open in Spring 2003, the freestanding, 300,000-square-foot, three-tiered facility will raise the total capacity of the convention center to more than 900,000 square feet. And in the next few months, several hotels, some featuring more than 13,000 square feet of meeting space, will open in San Francisco.

In addition, a new $130 million international terminal recently opened at San Francisco International Airport. And late in 2003, BART, the city’s rail system, is extending its reach to the airport as well.


Lysa Allman-Baldwin is a freelance writer based in Kansas City, MO, and the Travel Writer and Editor for Soul Of America (www.SoulOfAmerica.com), an Afrocentric travel Web site. She can be reached at(816) 361-5324.