^{June 2002}

So, for its next show, the association chose a location that combined a good convention site, reasonable hotel rates and a convenient drive for most members: Atlantic City, NJ. That it was a burgeoning gaming destination was a bonus, but not the primary reason they chose the location.

People are sticking close to home, and gambling offers a simple diversion from life’s everyday worries. In fact, 90 percent of the U.S. population lives within three hours of gambling. This proximity, combined with the natural popularity of gaming, explains why consumer spending on commercial casino gaming grew 4.9 percent from 2000 to 2001, according to the American Gaming Association.

Whether or not gambling appeals to your attendees, a gaming destination can offer other enticements: low hotel rates, affordable dining and entertainment, abundant rooms and state-of-the-art convention facilities. But gaming could draw attendees away from your show, or it could provide them an added incentive to attend.

A winning package
During the two decades since the Northeast Spa & Pool Association show made Atlantic City its permanent home, the show has grown from 4,000 attendees and exhibitors and 125 exhibiting
companies in 17,500 square feet to 11,191 attendees and exhibitors and 400 exhibiting companies in 101,800 square feet. Executive Director Joel Caesar, CAE, CMP, attributes the success to consistent timing and location in a destination that appeals to attendees for many reasons. Drivability is one bigplus. Caesar estimates 80 percent of attendees drive from within 300 miles.

Affordability is another benefit. “Hotels offer attractive packages to draw people to casinos,” says Caesar. “I can offer attendees rooms in New Jersey’s largest hotel at $65 a night with $2 parking. That’s very dramatic for our market.”

The lure of the blackjack tables doesn’t hurt, either. Some hotels comp rooms for 15 percent to 20 percent of attendees because they gamble. “The hotels tell us our group provides good casino business,” says Caesar. “Our members are entrepreneurs — good candidates for casino activities.” Nevertheless, he doesn’t consider gambling a major draw. “We don’t look at Atlantic City as a gambling destination; we look at it as a destination that happens to have gambling,” he says.

Gambling isn’t always a draw for shows. The fact that Atlantic City offers gambling was a bit of a deterrent for organizers of the National Catholic Educational Association show, held April 2-5, with more than 11,000 attendees. “We had reservations about holding the show in a gaming destination, but the local bishop and diocese invited us,” says Sue Arvo, Convention and Exposition Director. “We look at it as a resort destination on the ocean with a convention center. There are enough hotel rooms so attendees don’t have to shuttle back and forth, and the destination offers adequate dining and transportation options. There’s lots to do in the evenings, and entertainment is affordable. There’s something for everyone.”


More than cards, chips and dice
“Something for everyone” is the promotional approach most gaming destinations use. Take Kansas City, MO, for example. Jeff Eastman, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Kansas City, highlights the city’s central location (with a lower average cost to fly there), affordable hotel rooms (about $100 a night) and availability of facilities. “It’s good that we have gaming — it’s another thing for attendees to enjoy,” he adds.

Even Las Vegas is marketing itself as more than a gamblers’ paradise. 

“We’re putting less emphasis on gambling and more on such entertainment as shows, spas and golf courses,” says Rob Powers, Vice President of Communications for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “Gambling is less attractive because you can gamble almost anywhere.”
Powers cites the addition of golf courses, hotels’ long-term contracts with popular performers (such as Celine Dion’s deal with Caesars Palace), the opening of high-end nightclubs and the development of more meeting space as examples of diversification. He also touts the city’s restaurants and retail space. “Eighty-seven percent of visitors gamble, but they also come here to shop and eat at a five-star restaurant,” he says.

Hoping to capitalize on visitors’ desire to eat, meet and gamble in Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino will open a 1.8 million-square-foot convention center in January that will connect with three hotels housing 15,000 rooms and 16 restaurants. “The one-stop concept is a tremendous selling point,” says Danielle Babilino, Vice President of Hotel Sales. “It’s all about ease for attendees.”

Mandalay Bay’s one-stop approach will lure the Western Veterinary Conference away from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas next February. Executive Director Stephen Crane, DVM, predicts the convention center will better suit the 12,200 attendees’ and exhibitors’ needs. “We were able to get considerably more space for exhibits,” he says. “We had a backlog of people who wanted to exhibit with us, but we couldn’t accommodate them. Now we can.”

Though the 75-year-old conference has been in Las Vegas for the past 29 years, Crane says gambling isn’t a major attraction. He lists gaming as the fifth attraction for attendees, after the diversity and quality of the program, social amenities and networking opportunities, commercial exhibits, and the opportunity for an adult vacation. Entertainment, gourmet dining, golf, concerts and Grand Canyon tours also appeal to many attendees. “Gaming isn’t very important, but Las Vegas as a destination is,” he adds.

That attitude is fine with Mandalay Bay’s Babilino. “Vegas is nowentertainment- focused,” she says. “The weather is good. We’ve got all the right bells and whistles to draw visitors. It’s a full resort destination. Gaming isn’t the hook — it’s a nice plus.”


Betting on casinos
For another city, though, gaming is the hook. “Odds Are You’ll Love Tunica, Mississippi,” blares the Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau’s gambling-themed Web site (www.tunicamiss.org). Since Mississippi legalized gaming in 1992, 10 casinos, 6,000 hotel rooms and 40 restaurants have sprouted in what was one of the country’s poorest rural areas.

“There was really no reason to come here before the casinos opened,” says Ann Coggins, Tunica CVB Sales Manager. Now the city is the third largest U.S. gaming resort destination. Promoted as a drive-in market, Tunica attracts visitors from Oklahoma City; Tulsa, OK; Chicago; and especially Memphis, TN, about 30 miles away. Because Tennessee state associations can’t meet out-of-state, many hold meetings in Memphis and let attendees drive to Tunica to gamble, Coggins says. “Gaming is an extra perk for the show to market,” she adds.

For Dennis Hill, Show Coordinator for the South Central Manufactured Homes Institute in Roswell, GA, gaming wasn’t an incentive to move his show. Instead, Hill relocated from Nashville to Tunica four years ago “because it had enough asphalt,” he says. Hill requires outdoor space for manufactured home exhibits, so his needs differ from those of typical show managers who seek large indoor facilities.

Hill suggests Tunica follow Las Vegas’ lead and focus on becoming a convention destination, citing the need for more show-friendly hotels, more restaurants and an adequate local airport. Coggins says an airport expansion and renovation will be complete in 2005, and the city hopes to attract an airline. Until then, gaming and low hotel rates ($49 to $79 a night) continue to lure regional visitors. “We’re a gaming destination — it sells itself. We don’t have to offer incentives for people to come here,” she says.

Hitting a jackpot
Although gaming may be attractive to some attendees, standard show-planning considerations — space, rates and dates — are much more important. “Show managers want adequate, reasonably priced space, a destination that makes sense and a market that supports trade shows,” says Steven Hacker, CAE, President of IAEM. Next year’s IAEM Annual Meeting & Expo! Expo! will be in Las Vegas, a destination Hacker describes as “evolved.”

“People talk about Vegas and entertainment with a capital E. They go to Vegas for other things besides gambling,” he says. “It offers some of the best convention facilities in the world. The issue comes down to rates and features. If managers look at Vegas and there are three potential venues, they can price-shop. If they go somewhere else, they may have less opportunity to leverage rates.”
Not to mention fewer venue choices. “Lots of smaller locations don’t have the meeting space to accommodate a show,” says Lori Johnson, Meetings Manager for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. “Bigger cities offer a better package price.” 

Although large gaming destinations may offer good facilities and rates, managers planning weekend shows may run into scheduling problems. Northeast Spa & Pool’s Caesar says Atlantic City has one drawback: He can’t hold a weekend convention because he can’t reserve enough hotel rooms. It all comes down to economics. “Hotels aren’t too keen on trade shows during weekends because that’s when the high rollers come in,” says Hacker. “Associations and trade show delegates don’t support casinos like they do.”

Dawn J. Grubb is owner and president of 24/7 Communications in Overland Park, KS.

Source: American Gaming Association