Conference and Convention Business: Broad offerings bring groups to Vermont

Vermont Business Magazine, Mar 01, 2000 by Marcel, Joyce

In the hotel business, groups come in many shapes and sizes. They can consist of thousands of antique car enthusiasts gathering to show off their cars. Or the folks who gather for a wedding. They can be the cast and crew of a movie starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, or a group of New York businessmen lucky enough to be taken to the top of Mount Mansfield at sunrise for a special morning ski. Whatever their shape and size, however, they've made it another good year for the conference, convention and group business in Vermont.

"We've just come off a strong year," said Tim Shea, director of tourism for the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, and director of one of its divisions, the Vermont Convention Bureau. "Throughout the state, conventions continue to be a strong component of business. We've experienced a growth of facilities at Mt. Snow and an expansion in Killington, which, along with the facilities in the Burlington area, make Vermont quite well-positioned to accommodate conventions."

The most important news for business is the upcoming addition of airline service in Burlington. The new carrier, jetBlue, will offer a wealth of airline connections between Vermont and JFK Airport in New York.

"We've been concentrating on making Vermont more accessible, so we spent quite a bit of time working with city and state officials in courting jetBlue," Shea said. "It's just starting service this month out of JFK with routes to northern New York and Florida. In three years, it plans to be servicing 35 destinations."

Getting the jetBlue connection was a "team effort," Shea said.

"Our local and state officials helped, and our congressional delegation offered a considerable amount of help in getting jetBlue the landing rights in JFK. This will be an important addition to our infrastructure for meetings, conventions and tourism. Plus it will improve service for people who live within the area."

The past 10 years have seen a great marketing push from the Vermont Convention Bureau and the state's hotels and conference centers; it still pays off today.

"We continue to pursue meetings and conventions," Shea said. "We were down in Boston last spring for a sales mission. Ten of our members hit the streets and called on meeting planners in the hopes of attracting meetings and events. We also hosted two familiarization tours specific to meeting planners in central, southern and northern Vermont. We had a total of 15 meeting planners. Not only did they see the hotels and the conference spaces, but some of the attractions. They took a boat ride on the take, and went to Hildene, Robert Todd Lincoln's home, in Manchester. These are the things that set us apart from other destinations."

So far, several bookings have come out of that tour, Shea said. "And we've had bookings from people who were on 'fam tours' three or four years ago," Shea said. "They are as important as the trade shows and brochures, because it really helps to get folks here first-

hand."

One new trend is that groups are not booking as far ahead as they used to, said Sheila Cleary, the director of sales and marketing for the Sheraton Burlington.

"We're finding that there are a lot more events and conventions that are booking short-term," Cleary said. "Historically, a lot of the 250-to-500 people conventions would book three, four or even five years out. Now we're finding that window is becoming smaller and smaller."

Membership in the Vermont Convention Bureau continues to grow throughout the state, Shea said.

"We have representation in all corners of the state, ranging from small inns to medium-sized hotels and fullscale conference centers," Shea said. "We offer a variety of products to meeting planners."

In terms of large groups, one of northern Vermont's favorite conventions is the National Street Rod Association. Each year it brings over 1,000 people and antique and classic cars to the Burlington area.

Right now, Shea is working on bringing the Holstein Association USA's June 2005 conference to Vermont, which will mean upwards of 1,500 guests. The Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement is coming in December of 2000, bringing 800 people. In June of 2001, the American Bell Association International brings 200 people to the Lakemore Inn in Fairlee. And the National Grange Convention is coming to Burlington in November of 2003, bringing 600 people.

Despite the growth of the Internet and all the advancements made in communication each year, people still need to meet face to face, Cleary said.

"In good times and bad, people want to meet," Cleary said. "We are not seeing less demand for meetings, even in this high-technology age. We have a large demand from people who want to get together."

Each year, Vermont. Business Magazine does an informal survey of what's happening at the major convention centers, hotels and resorts. What follows is the result of that survey.

BURLINGTON AREA

Group business has been quite good at the Radisson Hotel, which is doing a great deal of renovation right now of its sleeping rooms.