Salt Lake convention progress hailed

A year after it lost its president to cancer, the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau reported that it has regained its momentum and refocused on its growth plan — which includes an expanded Salt Palace convention center.

Ahead of its annual meeting — set for tonight at the Salt Lake Marriott City Center — the bureau's new president, Scott Beck, said it has reorganized and reprioritized, with staff realignments and revamped marketing strategies, and the results are beginning to show.

In 2005, Beck said, the bureau exceeded its goal by booking 538,678 hotel room nights. The goal was 524,000 room nights. Those bookings equate to $266 million in direct visitor spending in Salt Lake County, Beck said.

The bureau also reported that the year-over-year transient room tax revenue was up 10.5 percent in 2005, compared to a 4 percent increase in 2004.

"I still believe that we continue to live off of and benefit from the Olympic legacy," Beck told the Deseret Morning News. "It really gave the destination a stamp of validation, very much like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."

This year, the bureau's goal is to increase its bookings to 600,000 hotel room nights, equating to more than $270 million in direct visitor spending, Beck said. It also will be putting more emphasis on Web-based promotions, shifting $200,000 to $300,000 from its trade show and print advertising budgets to the Web.

"If you look at the way travelers — all travelers — plan and book their travel, and if you look at convention delegates and the way they choose whether to attend a particular convention, you find that many attend a convention based on its appeal as a tourist destination," Beck said. And, with more people booking their own travel via the Internet, Beck said it makes sense to find them where they are.

"This approach is much more 'rifle' than 'shotgun,' " he said.

A key part of the bureau's growth plan revolves around the Salt Palace, which this year is beefing up to accommodate larger shows and meetings. The expansion project proceeds on schedule, Beck said, and will be ready to house its marquee guest, the Outdoor Retailer trade show, in August.

"We will be open for Outdoor Retailers' Summer Market," Beck said. "We're on track."

All told, the expansion will add 145,000 square feet of exhibit space and 66,000 square feet of meeting space to the convention center. When complete, the center will offer 515,000 gross square feet of contiguous exhibit space, a 45,000-square-foot ballroom and more than 120,000 square feet of meeting space.