Convention Competition: Springfield and Branson vie for events

Already, Springfield is feeling the heat from the Branson Convention Center. Tracy Kimberlin, executive director of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, said two groups that had been considering Springfield for conventions decided instead on Branson’s new facility, though he declined to say which groups.

Booking events for the Branson site has been brisk, with 220 event days already scheduled through the end of first-quarter 2009, according to Bill Tirone, director of sales and marketing for Branson Convention Center.

The key to Springfield’s ability to compete for conventions, however, may be a 1.7-acre piece of land located between the Springfield Expo Center and Jordan Valley Car Park. According to Kimberlin, it could provide an essential piece of the puzzle – a hotel attached to convention meeting space.

“If we have a hotel connected to the expo center, that’s a huge step forward in providing the facilities we need to be competitive with other cities,” Kimberlin said. “About any city Springfield’s size or bigger will have a headquarters hotel connected to the meeting space.”

Though there is some meeting space at the University Plaza Hotel, it is across the street from the expo center, and adjacent – but not connected to – the University Plaza Convention Center.

“There is no physical connection between the hotel rooms, the ballroom space, the meeting space and the exhibit space,” Kimberlin added. When the weather is nice, “it’s no big deal, but when there’s a torrential downpour or it’s winter, it’s a very big deal.”

Four-star finalists

Developer Rick Huffman wants the chance to develop the land between the Expo Center and Jordan Valley Car Park. Huffman is a partner in HCW Development Co., which developed the $420 million Branson Landing and Branson’s convention center.

Through HCW Evergreen LLC, Huffman also is one of four developers in the running to develop Springfield’s 1.7-acre downtown site, formerly slated for an arena. Huffman’s proposal for the site combines a four-star hotel connected to Springfield Expo Center and an office building to accommodate Springfield-based accounting firm BKD LLP.

“Springfield attracts the business customer that flies in and flies out, because of the airport,” Huffman said. “With a new (hotel), they could be attached to the center, so they don’t have to go out in the elements like they currently do, and it would be a much nicer atmosphere.”

Two other finalists – BC Development Co. of Kansas City and Springfield-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts LLC – also are proposing four-star hotels and office space. The fourth finalist, Kansas City-based Opus Northwest LLC, is proposing headquarters for BKD and a pad for a future hotel.

Springfield City Council, which is expected to take up the issue this month, will decide who develops the site.

Target markets

Branson Convention Center’s Tirone said Springfield and Branson have different target audiences for convention business.

“I see Springfield as being primarily a business destination,” Tirone said. “But if a convention is looking for not only the business aspect but also nighttime activities, where they take people to shows or let them have their evenings free, Branson has a broader appeal from that perspective.”

Springfield-based Safety Council of the Ozarks has chosen the Branson Convention Center for its Sept. 25–28 Safety & Health Conference.

Council Board President Allen Kunkel said the group has held its annual conference in Branson for several years, due largely to the fact that the group’s coverage area extends into northwest Arkansas. The convention center was an additional draw.

“The newness of (Branson) Landing, competitive rates and date availability led the group to choose the convention center,” Kunkel said. “It’s also more of a venue where people want to come and spend more leisure time.”

Tirone and Lynn Berry, public relations director for the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau, also cite the Branson Airport, which is to be completed in 2009, as having key potential for drawing national conventions to Branson.

“It’s something that will benefit the entire state as we bring people to this part of the world that were, in many instances, not familiar with this area,” Berry said.

Other competition

While Branson is a new contender for convention business, making Springfield stand out to event organizers is nothing new. Historically, the Lake of the Ozarks area has been Springfield’s main competitor for conventions, Kimberlin said.

Part of the reason, Kimberlin said, is that a large portion of statewide conventions that could be coming to Springfield are drawn to Lake of the Ozarks’ more central location in the state.

The lake area will only become more competitive in coming years, Kimberlin said, with the addition of John Q. Hammons’ Chateau at Lake of the Ozarks, a 15-story hotel with 100,000 square feet of meeting space set to open in 2010.

While statewide groups represent Springfield’s main source of convention business, Kimberlin said next in line is the social, military, educational, religious and fraternal groups – or SMERF market, whose members pay for meetings out of their own pockets.

“The reason we’re popular with those groups is that there’s typically not a company footing the bill … and those people often want to make a vacation of their visit,” he said. “The Springfield/Branson area is a good place for that. So we’ll compete with Branson a lot for that market.”

Connecting the dots

To adequately compete for convention business in the future, Kimberlin said, Springfield will have to make some changes. He pointed to the Springfield Expo Center, the main publicly owned Springfield meeting space, as an example.

“Food service in the center is difficult because there is no kitchen,” he said, although there are concessions available. “The finish of the facility is an exhibit hall finish – it has concrete floors. To someone who’s not familiar with the industry, they may think it’s a convention center, but it’s not.”

And there’s the aforementioned lack of connectivity. Both Branson’s convention center and the planned Chateau at Lake of the Ozarks, along with existing facilities such as Branson’s Chateau on the Lake, have meeting space with physical connections to hotel facilities.

That missing connectivity puts Springfield at a disadvantage, Kimberlin said, compared to smaller cities such as St. Charles and Overland Park, Kan.

The 154,000-square-foot St. Charles Convention Center opened in 2005, along with an attached 296-room, Hammons-managed Embassy Suites hotel. Overland Park Convention Center features 110,000 square feet of meeting space, plus an additional 20,000 square feet in the attached, 412-room Overland Park Sheraton Hotel.

Kimberlin said Springfield needs to go in the same direction to keep up.

“We have many of the pieces – we just need to connect the dots,” he said.

Big-Business Potential

Though Springfield lacks a convention center with an attached hotel, current facilities can accommodate large groups. The University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center, for example, will be the venue for the 2007 Governor’s Conference on Economic Development Aug. 27–30, which is expected to bring up to 1,500 people.

Annette Wallace, event planner for the Missouri Department of Economic Development, said Springfield is hosting the event as part of a statewide rotation.[[In-content Ad]]