Despite the massive Rotary International convention this summer, which is expected to bring more than 10,000 delegates to Salt Lake City, Beck said it's likely 2007 won't be another record-setting year for the bureau. However, he said, 2008 and 2009 are already looking "incredibly strong," based on advance bookings.

Looking ahead, the bureau has launched a multi-pronged growth strategy. The top objective, according to Beck, is a sales redeployment strategy focused on filling the expanded Salt Palace.

"The construction of this building was faster and well ahead of our ability to change our sales deployment to reflect the current size of the building we have," Beck said.

The Salt Palace is now 694,000 square feet, putting Salt Lake in the top 10 percent of convention facilities in the United States, Beck said.

A second leg of the bureau's growth agenda is a shifting of resources toward online marketing, Beck said, which is quickly becoming the method of choice by individuals and groups to research and book travel.

Third, the bureau will continue its efforts to dispel misconceptions about Utah and what it has to offer, Beck said. And what it has to offer, he said, is a metropolitan city at smaller-town costs. Where hotel rooms in New York City run hundreds of dollars a night right now, Beck said hotels in Utah can be had for a fraction of that.

"We have all the elements of an incredible city," he said. "They're all here: the restaurant scene, the night life, the incredible natural environment and activities. We have incredible hotels, a great convention center. Add to that the value component, and it bodes very well for us moving forward."

One thing that isn't a concern: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' massive redevelopment project, right across the street from the Salt Palace.

"This is the honest truth: it was much more of a liability for us having that mall empty with nothing in it than it is being torn down in preparation for something bigger," Beck said. With The Gateway now just a block from the Salt Palace's expanded west entrance on 300 West, and the development of a unique shopping neighborhood on 300 South, Beck said there's still plenty for visitors to do.

"These are all things that make us very excited about the future," he said. "Construction is difficult to deal with, but the long-term view is that there's a $1.2 billion investment being made in downtown Salt Lake."

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E-mail: jnii@desnews.com