Stage set for pivotal caucus at Convention Center
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Hawai'i Convention Center is preparing to serve as host to a gathering of about 1,500 people from all over the world next week that could help boost the state's struggling visitor industry.
The attendees are members of Meeting Professionals International, which will convene for three days beginning Sunday for its Professional Education Conference. MPI's members direct more than 700,000 meetings, conferences and special events each year, equating to about $14 billion annually. About 750 of the attendees expected at next week's conference are corporate meeting planners; the rest plan and coordinate meetings on a smaller level.
A positive experience in Hawai'i could spur the conference attendees to generate additional meetings in the Islands. Organizers of the event said they hope a positive outcome here will create a ripple effect that will further Hawai'i's efforts to market itself not just as a leisure destination, but as a strategic location to conduct international business.
"That's a wonderful way for us to start the year," said Sandra Moreno, vice president of meetings, conventions and incentives with the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau.
The bureau had projected the convention could generate $8.4 million in visitor spending and $700,000 in tax revenue. However, those numbers were based on the original estimate of 2,500 attendees, rather than the current projection of 1,500.
The 30-year-old group, which has about 19,000 members in 64 countries and holds two major conferences each year, first met in Hawai'i in 1992. Ed Griffin, president and chief executive of MPI, said the attendees will begin arriving here this week from the Mainland, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
Hawai'i was chosen as the meeting venue by competitive bid, Griffin said, but luring such an influential crowd involves more than offering a discount.
"It usually takes $1 million to $1.5 (million) in sponsorships to ... help us absorb the cost to put on the conference itself," Griffin said.
According to a cost analysis from MPI, Hawai'i will provide the equivalent of $948,936 in cash, goods and services for this meeting. Companies outside Hawai'i will supplement that with $670,645 in support.
Among the many Hawai'i sponsors are the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, Matson Navigation Co., the Hawai'i Convention Center and the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau, which is paying for the airport welcome, as well as some general ground transportation, refreshments, conference T-shirts and in-room gifts.
The surprise amenities generally referred to as in-room gifts amount to about $58,000 over nine nights, according to the MPI report. A variety of sponsors are providing these items, which are purchased from local businesses. The Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau, for example, will give guests a card and an aloha shirt or sarong at a cost of $32,000.
The investment is substantial, but so are the potential rewards. In 1999, Vancouver spent $1.5 million attracting an MPI convention. Within 18 months, Griffin said, the city had booked $14 million in future conferences.
Joe Davis, Hawai'i Convention Center general manager, said the MPI conference is an excellent opportunity to showcase the facility and Hawai'i as a destination, particularly as competition grows from other cities and their convention facilities.
Griffin said Hawai'i competed for the MPI meeting with such cities as San Diego; Las Vegas; Orlando, Fla.; Chicago; and Montreal.
Considering world events, Griffin believes MPI's attendance at a relatively distant location sends a powerful message to clients preparing for future meetings.
"If we have 1,500 people meeting in Hawai'i during a down economy, then I think we've made a huge statement," he said.
"One of the more substantive goals that we have is to kick off 2002 with the concept that we're getting back to business in the meetings industry. The industry has taken such a beating in the last four months that this is a great way to demonstrate the value of meetings, the diversification of venues."
