Convention business regaining vigor
By Edward Iwata
USA Today
SAN FRANCISCO — Walloped by the recession and travelers' fear of terrorism, the $100 billion trade-show business is rebounding faster than expected.
Advertiser library photo • November 2001
Industry leaders say more business people are jetting to trade events and filling hotel rooms again nationwide. Tradeshow Week magazine predicts attendance will return to single-digit growth rates this summer, after falling 20 percent in the fourth quarter — the worst drop ever.
Las Vegas, which lost more than 200 trade shows and conventions after the attacks, reports that business is getting back to normal
"If the recession is over and there are no more airline incidents, we believe we'll see a sharp comeback," says Tradeshow Week's Michael Hughes.
• Las Vegas abuzz. Shortly after Sept. 11, more than 200 trade shows and meetings were canceled in this famed gambling town. Convention attendance swooned 36 percent to 165,000 in September. Taxis were easy to find. Asian travelers and gamblers, a big source of revenue, stayed home.
Now Vegas is booming again. Hotel-room occupancy — down to 74 percent last September — is climbing back to 80 percent-plus. The giant Consumer Electronics Show in January booked a record 1 million square feet of exhibitors' space. Asian travelers are back, with Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines adding new flights this year to Las Vegas. "Things are returning to normal," says spokes-man Rob Powers of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
• San Francisco rebounding. The dot-com crash hurt this postcard-pretty city last year as the number of business travelers in town for meetings fell 25 percent.
But the city's convention business keeps growing, with major trade shows by Apple Computer, Oracle, IBM and other companies. Hotels also are reporting an upsurge in business travelers booking rooms for small conferences and meetings this year.
"So far, all signs are signaling optimism," says Mark Theis, vice president at the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau.
• Orlando upbeat. The economic gloom and Sept. 11 led to 25 percent of travelers canceling their trips here last quarter. Today, only 10 percent of travelers are canceling, and hotels are starting to hire back laid-off workers, says William Peeper, president of the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Demand clearly is picking up," he says.
• New York rising. Although tourism numbers are still down compared to pre-Sept. 11 levels, legions of business travelers are trying to help by changing their meeting sites to New York in a show of support for the devastated city. Hotel occupancy rates climbed to 60 percent recently from 30 percent in September, says Cristyne Nicholas, president of NYC & Company, formerly the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Why such confidence? People no longer fear flying. Corporations are opening their travel coffers. Tourism officials are offering discount travel deals. And, if Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Green-span is right, the recession is dead.
Says Nicholas: "The worst days are behind us."
