^{July/August 2002}

25 bargain destinations

The best cities to host a show on a budget

By Elizabeth Ingram

Companies are still cutting travel budgets to keep expenses under control. But holding your next show in one of the following 25 affordable destinations could help your exhibitors and attendees justify their participation in your show.

EXPO selected these U.S. cities based on average room rate data compiled by PKF 
Consulting in Atlanta and Smith Travel Research in Hendersonville, TN, as well as 2002 federal per diem meal rates. In addition, each of these cities has a convention center that offers at least 50,000 square feet of exhibit space. However, PKF Consulting and Smith Travel Research focus on what they see as key or representative markets, so this list isn’t comprehensive of everyexhibition city in the United States.

1. Virginia Beach, VA
With its federal per diem meal rate of only $38 and a first-quarter 2002 average daily room rate (ADR) of only $56.57, Virginia Beach tops our list of the most affordable cities for shows. And the Pavilion Convention Center is planning an expansion, to be completed in 2006, that will add 150,000 square feet of exhibit space to the current 66,736 square feet.

2. Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City also enjoys affordable dining and low-cost hotel rooms, with an ADR of only $59.13 in 2001 and $38 a day for meals. The Myriad Convention Center, now called the Cox Business Services Convention Center, reopened its doors in August 2001 with an additional 105,000 square feet, bringing it to more than 100,000 square feet of exhibit space.

3. El Paso, TX
In May, the city completed a $23 million expansion of the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center that brought it to 80,000 square feet of columnless exhibit space and 17,000 square feet of meeting rooms. Future plans for the facility include a new trolley terminal. In addition, hotel rooms cost just $61.04 in 2001, and meals are an affordable $38 a day.

4. Albuquerque, NM
With an ADR of just $63.70 in 2001 and a meal per diem of $38, Albuquerque is an affordable destination for shows. 
The city reports that a typical cab fare from the airport to the downtown Albuquerque Convention Center is about $12. The center contains more than 167,000 square feet of exhibit space and offers the first set-up per day at no charge.

5. Baton Rouge, LA
This destination offers a 2001 ADR of $66.56 and meal rates of just $38 a day. In addition, the city broke ground last 
summer on an expansion to the downtown Centroplex Convention Center that will bring it to 100,000 square feet of space when it is completed in 2004. The city features more than 6,000 hotel rooms and more than 900 restaurants.

6. Corpus Christi, TX
This affordable city boasts an ADR in 2001 of just $70.08, and federal meal per diems are just $38. The Bayfront Plaza Convention Center features 200,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space, with an expansion on the drawing boards. In addition, transportation options include a free beach shuttle and a Bayfront trolley that covers travel downtown for just 50 cents.

7. Wichita, KS
In this affordable Midwestern city, hotel ADRs in 2001 were just $72.31, and meals cost about $38 a day. Wichita’s Century II Convention Center features 198,800 square feet of exhibit space in a 721,000-square-foot facility. And the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport hosts 12 airlines providing nonstop service to 11 major U.S. cities.

8. Ontario, CA
Ontario features an ADR of just $73.94 in 2001 and a meal per diem of $38. The 225,000-square-foot Ontario Convention Center is just two short blocks from the Ontario International Airport, with 2,100 hotel rooms within walking distance of the center, which contains 70,000 square feet of column-free exhibit space, as well as a 20,000-square-foot ballroom and 24,000 square feet of meeting space.

9. St. Louis
The “Gateway to the West” boasted an affordably low $67.56 ADR in the first quarter of 2002, and meals cost about $46 a day. As reported in Census 2000, St. Louis is the 18th largest city by population. And a hotel building boom means that, by the beginning of 2003, downtown St. Louis will offer 7,600 hotel rooms, with 33,000 rooms area-wide.

10. Salt Lake
In this city, home to the 2002 Winter Olympics, attendees and exhibitors will enjoy average meal costs of just $42 a day. The ADR for hotel rooms in 2001 was just $72.58. Salt Lake boasts the Salt Palace Convention Center, which features 365,000 square feet of exhibit space. And new downtown hotels have contributed to a 64 percent guest room increase in the city.

11. Denver
With 292,000 more square feet of exhibit space on the horizon for 2004 at the Colorado Convention Center, soon Denver will have even more space for shows. In addition, the city boasted an ADR of just $73.94 in the first quarter of 2002 and a meal rate of just $42 a day. And Denver is the 19th largest city by population when combined with Boulder.

12. Nashville, TN
Nashville’s ADR was only $74.22 in the first quarter of 2002, and meals are budgeted at $42 a day. In addition to the Nashville Convention Center’s 119,000 square feet of exhibit space, this city boasts the Gaylord Opryland hotel, which, at 288,000 square feet of exhibit space, has the most exhibit space of any hotel in the United States. 

13. Tucson, AZ
Hotels in Tucson charged an ADR of just $78.37 in 2001, and meals are an affordable $38 a day. This temperate city enjoys about 350 days of sunshine each year, with an average daily high of 82 and a low of 55. In addition, the downtown Tucson Convention Center contains123,510 square feet of continuous exhibit space.

14. Atlanta
In November 2001, Cobb Galleria Centre’s expansion added 36,000 square feet of exhibit space, bringing it to a total of 144,000 square feet of exhibit space in four halls. The Georgia World Congress Center will also be completing an expansion in October. Atlanta’s daily meal rates are just $38, and ADR was $81.36 in the first quarter of 2002. Finally, Atlanta is the 11th largest city by population.

15. Houston
In April, Reliant Center debuted more than 706,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, bringing Reliant Park to 2.1 million square feet of exhibit space. And the George R. Brown Convention Center expansion is scheduled to be completed in late October 2003. Meals in Houston cost about $42 a day, and ADR in the first quarter of 2002 was $78.36. In addition, Census 2000 says this city is the ninth largest in the United States by population.

16. Fort Worth, TX
In mid-April, the Fort Worth Convention Center opened the first phase of an expansion project that, when completed in spring 2003, will bring the center to 714,000 gross square feet of space. This city made the list with its $82.95 ADR for the first quarter of 2002 and $38 a day meal rate. When combined with Dallas, this city was ninth on the list of cities by population.

17. Detroit
Detroit boasts an affordable first quarter 2002 ADR of $79.69 and a $46 meal per diem. Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center, which features 700,000 square feet of exhibit space, is offering a summer booking special that includes a 35 percent discount on current published rates on events held between May 20 and Sept. 10 through 2008. In addition, Detroit was 8th on the list of largest cities by population.


18. Minneapolis
In the first quarter of 2002, ADRs for hotels in Minneapolis were just $80.49, and meals cost $46 a day. The Minneapolis Convention Center is undergoing an expansion that will add 200,000 square feet of exhibit space to the existing 280,000 square feet. And this budget-friendly city came in 15th on the list of cities by population.

19. San Antonio
San Antonio made our most affordable list with its $86.49 ADR in 2001 and a daily meal rate of $42. In addition, a $215 million expansion completed in May 2002 added 239,132 square feet of exhibit space and almost 28,000 square feet of meeting space to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, giving it more than 422,000 total square feet of exhibit space. 


20. Austin, TX
This city plays host to the newly expanded Austin Convention Center, which added 470,00 square feet, including 289,397 square feet of exhibit space, in mid-May. And the Lester E. Palmer Events Center is in the process of expanding its exhibit space. A combination of a $38 meal per diem and 2001 ADR of $90.66 seals the deal on this affordable city.

21. Dallas
The Hyatt Regency Dallas, just one facility in Dallas that features exhibit space, added 40,000 square feet to its existing 20,000 square feet in May 2000. In addition, the Dallas Convention Center expansion is scheduled to be completed in September. The city enjoyed an ADR of just $82.95 in the first quarter of 2002 and a $46 daily meal rate. And it came in 9th in population when combined with Fort Worth.

22. Tampa Bay, FL
In this affordable Southern city, the ADR in the first quarter of 2002 came in at $91.51, and meals cost about $38 a day. This city also made the list of the largest cities by population, coming in at 20th place. And in 2000, 58 percent of all the conventions held in Tampa Bay were national, with just 11 percent regional and 28 percent state meetings.

23. Orlando, FL
Exhibition space activity abounds in Orlando: the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center opened its doors in early February with 178,500 square feet of exhibit space, and the Orange County Convention Center, which already contains more than 1.1 million square feet of space, is planning an expansion, to be completed October 2003. Meals in Orlando cost about $42 a day, and ADR in 2001 was just $89.70.

24. Sacramento, CA
Sacramento charged an ADR of $90.72 in 2001 at the city’s more than 12,000 hotel rooms, and meals cost about $42 a day. According to Census 2000, Sacramento is the 24th largest city by population. An $80 million expansion brought the Sacramento Convention Center to 134,000 square feet of exhibit space. And the Sacramento International Airport provides service to more than 120 U.S. and international cities.

25. Kansas City, MO-KS
The new KCI-Expo Center opened with 70,000 square feet of exhibit space in January, and the new Overland Park Convention Center, with a 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall, is scheduled to be completed in December. Kansas City’s ADR was $93.86 in 2001, and meals cost about $42 a day. In addition, this city is the 25th largest by population.


Elizabeth Ingram is Editor-in-Chief of EXPO magazine.