Convention center and hotel could give Cedar Rapids big advantage

On July 9, representatives from convention and visitors bureaus across the state will travel to Cedar Rapids for a statewide tourism industry meeting. They'll also probably be checking out their newest competition where the event will be held - the renovated and recently reopened U.S. Cellular Center and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.

"We have the newest, biggest and brightest convention complex," said Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Marilee Fowler. "We plan to take full advantage of that."

Cedar Rapids's new $144 million convention center is the second largest in the state, behind the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The complex, which saw its grand opening May 31, boasts 81,779 square feet of exhibit space, 12,359 square feet of ballroom space and 19,383 square feet of meeting rooms.

"For many years we weren't even in the mix for certain events because we didn't have the amenities," Fowler said.

And Cedar Rapids has something Des Moines doesn't - a 267-room hotel attached to the convention complex.

A key selling point

The hotel is key, Fowler said, because it can make the convention center far more appealing to large out-of-town groups looking for convenience and don't want to worry about providing transportation or parking for attendees. Convention centers without are just "a harder sell," she said.

Greg Edwards, president and CEO of the Grater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, admitted Des Moines is fully aware of the new competition. A major downtown hotel has been a part of the city's strategic plan for years but has yet to take shape.

"It's huge to have a hotel attached to a convention center," he said. "That's why most major cities in the country have them."

Des Moines is addressing the problem: The Des Moines Redevelopment Co., a not-for-profit entity formed for the acquisition of land or buildings in downtown Des Moines for re-development purposes, recently purchased the land adjacent to the Iowa Events Center and is searching for a developer to build a 450 guestroom four-star convention hotel.

Edwards said numerous studies have been conducted over the past 15 years looking at the effect a large downtown hotel would have in Des Moines.

"They all show that a new hotel will take some business away from existing hotels for about the first five years, but after that, there's a big economic impact," he said.

More than meeting space

But a city needs far more than just a big building and hotel rooms to land sporting events, national association meetings, business conferences, religious groups or the many hobby and special interest groups that hold annual conventions.

Planning a convention is a time-consuming and competitive process. Those planning the events generally like to book their locations three to five years in advance, and they take many things into consideration, including price, size of the space, amount of hotel rooms, entertainment options and off-site activities, and air service and interstate accessibility.

"The better our air service gets, the farther out we can go" to attract conventions, Fowler noted.

"It's so much more than just the buildings," added Dana Markel, executive director of the Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Before Omaha's CenturyLink Center opened in 2003, the city used a civic center and a Holiday Inn convention center to attract events. But Markel said it took more than opening the convention complex and a Hilton Omaha hotel - which are connected by a skywalk - to attract visitors.

"We took a hard look at the city as a destination, is it easily accessible to travel to, what are the other attractions," she said, adding that around the same time the CenturyLink Center opened, the city also developed its river front, arts district and other amenities.

"The hotel is important, it's just not the only thing," Markel said.

Bringing in new business

"It's like putting a puzzle together," Fowler said. But still, she believes the new Cedar Rapids complex will be able to draw in new business, especially when it comes to high school and college sports.

As new projects come on line, including the Prospect Meadows baseball and softball complex near Marion, Cedar Rapids will have the opportunity to go after tournaments and other events, she said.

Drawing in conventions and conferences is important to local economies because they can bring in huge groups to the city. Attendees and their families will then spend money at downtown shops and restaurants.

Even without the convention center, Cedar Rapids hosted the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships and Iowa girls high school volleyball tournament at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. Fowler believes now that the city has the new space, it will only add to the list.

Economic significance

The meetings and conventions industry sees some 1.8 million corporate and business meetings, trade shows, conventions, congresses, incentive events and other meetings across in the United States, resulting in:

• $263 billion in spending
• 1.7 million U.S. jobs
• $106 billion contribution to U.S. gross domestic product
• $14.3 billion in federal tax revenue
• $11.3 billion to state and local tax revenue
• $60 billion in labor income

Source:  2011 report for the Convention Industry Council