Convention spaces create competition for visitors

Springfield’s downtown Exposition Center, part of Jordan Valley Park, opened two years ago with 112,000 square feet of convention space.

HCW Development Co. and the city of Branson will open the 220,000-square-foot Branson Convention Center, part of the $300 million Branson Landing project, in April 2007.

The already-heated rivalry for convention business in southwest Missouri is getting hotter.

“We’re trying to catch the same fish,” said Susan Wade, public relations manager of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In addition, the city of Joplin is exploring the feasibility of adding a convention center in the next few years.

Branson officials are anxious for the opportunities the city’s new convention center will bring.

“It’ll open new markets for us,” said Ross Summers, president and CEO of Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce. “Primarily, Branson has always been a leisure market. This large convention facility will … give us new opportunities on the business side.”

Stephanie Roush, president of the Missouri Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, said conventions are vital to healthy economies.

“Truly, it can really impact communities, particularly during those seasons when the leisure traveler does not normally travel,” she said.

Dana Maugans, sales director for the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the bureau has helped book around 150 events in Springfield for 2005, with another 120 already slated for 2006.

She estimates the 150 events in Springfield this year have and will attract about 75,000 visitors, who stay an average of three days and spend an average of $150 per day.

Using Maugans’ estimates, convention visitors will contribute about $33.7 million in 2005 to Springfield’s economy.

However, she’s quick to note that the conventions she’s worked with are only a portion of the conventions held in Springfield. She said many hotels book their own conventions.

The Clarion Hotel at 3333 S. Glenstone holds about 1,800 events annually, 40 of which are full-scale conventions, according to sales director Missy Handyside.

Handyside said events account for 30 percent of the hotel’s revenue. Clarion earned about $35,000 for hosting the USS Floyd B. Parks DD884 Association, a veterans’ group, Sept. 19–27.

“Being a full-service hotel, we rely very much on convention business,” Handyside said. “Convention business is not only great for the hotels, but also for the city. Convention attendees shop, dine and visit local attractions while in Springfield.”

Joel Pottinger, executive director for the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitor Bureau, said formal business seminars aren’t the only type of conventions that have a big impact on host cities. He said his community benefits greatly from fishing tournaments.

“A lot of people think of conventions being that of sitting down and listing to speakers,” Pottinger said. “But groups come to town in all sorts of shapes and forms.”

Mark Hartman is general manager for the new Branson Convention Center, as well as two new Hilton-owned hotels at Branson Landing, opening in 2006 and 2007 and boasting 530 rooms.

He said he hasn’t signed any contracts to host conventions at the new facilities, which will accommodate up to 3,000 people, but has received inquiries.

“This is certainly the largest amount of space (in Branson),” Hartman said. “Branson has turned away business continually over the past few years without having space to accommodate larger groups.”

Joplin’s entry into the convention business in three to five years is pending the outcome of an event center feasibility study being conducted by Arizona-based developer Global Entertainment Corp.

“We’re really at the very onset, the preliminary stages,” said Ivan Moore, Global Entertainment business development director.

Moore said specific plans, including size and cost, for a possible city-owned convention center will be presented to Joplin officials in four to six weeks if Global Entertainment deems the city is a viable place for such a facility.

Currently, Joplin’s largest convention space is the Holiday Inn hotel and adjacent John Q. Hammons Convention Center, which has 40,000 square feet of meeting space and can accommodate 2,500 people.

Kansas City and St. Louis host national conventions, but every other Missouri city, including Springfield, depends heavily on booking a steady diet of regional and state associations.

The Missouri Dump Truckers Association held its 35th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Springfield for the first time March 2–6. The group of around 200 people used the expo center and University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center.

Springfield CVB’s Maugans said the dump truckers also have committed to Springfield for 2006.

She said the city’s largest recurring convention business comes from the Missouri Association for Career and Technical Education, which has held its annual event in Springfield since 1988 and is booked through 2010. Maugans said about 3,300 people attend the citywide gathering.

Hartman said there is plenty of convention business in the region for Branson and Springfield to peacefully co-exist.

Wade, agrees, though she does recognize that competition between the cities does exist.

But, she added, “I don’t think it’s real cut-throat, stab-you-in-the-back kind of stuff.”

Economic impact

Both Roush and Tracey Berry, communications administrator for the Missouri Department of Tourism, said that the monetary impact conventions have on the state’s economy is unknown.

Berry said her agency has not considered conducting an economic impact study to measure convention business in Missouri because its emphasis is on attracting leisure travelers.

“The specific cities are probably better equipped to market directly to the business traveler,” Berry said.

But, city bureaus aren’t conducting economic impact studies either.

Wade said the Springfield CVB hasn’t conducted an economic impact study because they’re too costly – some as much as $30,000, according to Missouri State University economics professor Tom Wyrick, who has conducted 20 such studies.