Meeting planners to get tours of Convention Center expansion

Meeting planners will get guided tours of the $80 million Convention Center expansion this weekend, as part of a strategic show-and-tell crafted by the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“We want them to see that it’s in progress, it’s actually going to happen… and that it will be ready in time for their meetings,” said CVB President John Brewer.

Most of the 14 planners who will visit the construction site on Friday morning want to book conferences in 2007 and 2008. The expansion is slated to open in late 2006.

The planners hail from states as distant as Florida, Arkansas and New York. They represent a new market for the CVB – national conferences attracting up to 6,000 delegates.

In the past, the CVB has focused mainly on attracting regional conferences, Brewer said. The expansion, which creates 100,000 square feet of exhibit space, allows the CVB to court larger, national meetings. He expects the expansion to pump an additional $25 million of tourism spending annually into the local economy.

One of the groups – the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology – could bring 3,500 delegates for a $4.3 million impact to Spokane. The New York-based organization is checking out the area for a 2007 convention.

Representatives will visit the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center, the Big Easy and other theater venues while they’re here. They’ll also take part in 21/2 days of activities planned by the CVB, including a wine tasting at Arbor Crest, and a Lake Coeur d’Alene cruise.

Brewer schedules about six such tours for convention planners each year. Nearly 70 percent of the planners who visit Spokane later end up booking a convention here, he said.

“It’s a great time to show off the convention center expansion,” Brewer said. “You can see the footprint starting to take place.”

Business writer Becky Kramer can be reached at (208) 459-7122, or by e-mail at beckyk@spokesman.com.