He described the Salt Palace as a "world-class" facility whose profile could be raised even higher with the addition of an adjacent headquarter hotel.

"We don't want to have to use 10 hotels for our block," he said. "Our exhibitors want to stay together in one hotel so they can all mingle, and right now that's not possible."

Beck said he is not advocating a new convention center for Salt Lake City, but the proposal of a combined user-friendly property — the Salt Palace and adjacent hotel — is "worthy of discussion."

Karen Rader, convention organizer for the 9,000-member International City/County Management Association, based in Washington, D.C., told the Deseret News that a convention center in close proximity to a headquarter hotel would definitely make Salt Lake City more attractive to potential convention business.

"If you had a really great headquarter property that could contain everything, it would provide more options for groups that are looking at Salt Lake City," she said.

Rader said she recently chose San Antonio over Salt Lake City and Austin to host her group's 2017 annual convention because it was better able to accommodate the event with two large hotel properties adjacent to that city's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

"I booked 2,200 room nights," she said. "In certain cities, I could do that in two, three or four hotels. Also, with one of those large hotels, I could use it as my headquarter property.

"Attending a conference in Salt Lake City … I would need to split my headquarter properties because there's not one hotel that gives me everything I need," she said.

Rader said if Salt Lake City were to develop a large hotel with meeting space near the Salt Palace, it would probably become more appealing for future conferences. She also suggested that the property should offer reasonably priced accommodations, similar to hotels currently situated near the Salt Palace. While the Grand America is an exceptional property, it would not necessarily be affordable to many average convention-goers, likely making an attached convention center there somewhat less desirable to potential planners, she said.

Rader's comments were echoed by a local hotel executive who also expressed support for a headquarter facility adjacent to the Salt Palace.

"The reason that Salt Lake can't grow faster than it is, in terms of national convention business … is the need for a headquarter hotel," said Steve Lindburg, general manager of the Hilton Salt Lake City Center and a member of the Utah Board of Tourism Development.

He said the city would benefit from the ability to house large conferences in a few facilities rather than convention organizers having to wrestle with numerous venues to accommodate events like the annual summertime Outdoor Retailer shows that bring in about 22,000 attendees.

"Intuitively, there's room and need for a headquarter hotel," Lindburg said. "How big and where it's located … have to be determined."

E-MAIL: jlee@desnews.com