According to STR, which compiles and analyzes hotel trends, the region’s average daily room rate in

Bringing in meetings and conventions business is challenging enough for many cities these days, but imagine being a second-tier destination trying to overcome a public image that isn't exactly exciting, flattering or desirable. Yet, determined to set the record straight while luring more groups to their cities, several destinations across the country are bending cheap airlines ticket over backwards to not only overcome any public misconceptions, but also reinvent themselves as interesting, affordable and fun places cheap airlines ticket to visit and do business in. Through city revitalization projects, cheap airlines ticket creative sales and marketing efforts, and an emphasis on the kind of personalized customer service you can't always get in top-tier destinations, several second-tier cheap airlines ticket cities are demonstrating that once meeting planners experience their destinations, their minds, and their misconceptions, will be forever changed.
Pittsburgh has undergone a dramatic transformation since the steel industry left in the mid-80s. Not only has the formerly polluted steel town cleaned cheap airlines ticket itself up, but it has also evolved into one of the most eco-friendly destinations in the U.S., especially for meetings and events. It is home to the first and largest Gold LEED-certified convention facility in the country, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
"The most common misconception about Pittsburgh is that we're still a steel town and that we haven't cheap airlines ticket changed since those days," Davis says. "That couldn't be further from the truth. It took us 100 years to get that reputation (so) we've had to reinvent ourselves."
To help change the public mindset as well as that of the meetings world, this reinvention has included marketing efforts touting Pittsburgh as not only a green, walkable city with a multitude of hotel, restaurant and entertainment options, but also a quality place to do business, Davis says. With the convention center as its marketing centerpiece, VisitPittsburgh's tagline has become "saving the world one meeting at a time," he adds.
"Having an event at our convention center is a fantastic experience, with the fact that it's green a wonderful by-product," Davis says. "If you want to have a green meeting, all you have to do is show up in Pittsburgh and it'll be green."
Yet seeing is believing, and to date the city's most successful sales effort has been to bring in meeting planners to experience the destination for themselves, Davis says. Once they get a taste of everything Pittsburgh has to offer, planners will book a meeting 85 percent of the time, he adds, as the beautiful and compact city tends to sell itself.
Sometimes low-profile reputations can work in one's favor. Thanks to economic factors, including the so-called "AIG effect" that has caused many groups to steer clear of destinations with reputations for luxury or excess, more and more groups are discovering that affordable destinations with more serious reputations are just the right fit for their events. Enter Detroit. Known for its strong cheap airlines ticket work ethic, the Motor City has been working tirelessly to not only reinvent itself as a focused meetings and convention destination, but also to lure more visitation thanks to a multi-million dollar urban redevelopment boom.
With 5,000 new hotel rooms that have doubled the downtown room inventory over the past several years, five new hotels and three casino-resort properties, as well as a $300 million expansion of the Cobo Center now underway, the city's convention and visitors bureau has been bending over backwards to spread the word that Detroit is not only a great place to hold a meeting, but also offers plenty for delegates to do while they're here.
According to Carla Conner-Penzabene, director cheap airlines ticket of sales at the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, one way the city is working to lure groups is to use its gritty cheap airlines ticket reputation to its advantage. The DMCVB launched a clever print marketing campaign that pokes a little fun at Detroit, makes readers aware of what kinds of groups have selected the city and lists reasons why other organizations should cheap airlines ticket consider the city for their next event.
Besides strong marketing and sales efforts, pushing Detroit's affordability, accessibility and personalized customer service offerings has been key for bringing business to the destination, Conner-Penzabene says. With two new terminals at the Detroit Metro airport, the city is one of the easiest and least expensive destinations to fly in and out of, which is a big plus, she adds.
"The most common cheap airlines ticket thing we hear after hosting a convention is that we exceeded every expectation they had about coming (here) and they look forward to coming back," Conner-Penzabene says. "The DMCVB and our hospitality partners bring a level of support to conventions that is rarely experienced in other cities. We know we have to work harder and we do."
It's paying off. StarCite Inc., which provides technology to meeting and event planners and providers, says Detroit's visitor cheap airlines ticket and tourism industry has seen 18 percent more requests for meetings with event planners in the first six months of this year compared with 2008, while other cities have seen double-digit declines.
According to STR, which compiles and analyzes hotel trends, the region's average daily room rate in August of $77.35 was among the most affordable in the nation's top 25 markets — less than Chicago ($107.56), cheap airlines ticket New Orleans ($85.80), St. Louis ($81.82) and many others.
The American Federation of Teachers convention is coming to the city in 2012. Officials also reportedly are making deals with the American Postal Workers Union, the General Assembly of God and the Amvets veterans group.
One public misconception about some second-tier destinations is that they're too slow-paced or even boring. Not to be typecast under that heading, the Southern city of Charlotte, N.C., is one destination that is continuing to demonstrate that it's anything but dull. Thanks to a decade of momentous growth and urban development, the Queen City is leaving its "sleepy Southern town" reputation behind by taking proactive steps to prove that although it remains a friendly and charming leisure destination, Charlotte is also a thriving, diverse and contemporary city well-suited for meetings and conventions.
According to Molly Hedrick, senior director of communications of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, Visit Charlotte is promoting its host of new hotel, retail and entertainment offerings, including 120 restaurant and 30 nightlife options, all within convenient cheap airlines ticket walking distance of the Charlotte Convention Center. The state-of-the-art facility is scheduled to unveil a new 44,000-sq.-ft. ballroom and a NASCAR Hall of Fame next year.
"Charlotte's got a lot of appeal that makes it special, not to mention plenty of Southern comforts that make it memorable," Hedrick says. "Once we welcome a meeting planner, tour group operator or leisure visitor to Charlotte, they are amazed by the growth, excitement and beauty we exude."
To support its new destination brand, "Charlotte's Got A Lot," launched in the summer of 2008, Hedrick says Visit Charlotte has implemented a multi-pronged visual marketing and direct mail campaign that includes print and television advertising, promotional videos, trade-show cheap airlines ticket booths at events and Web site integration as part of its ambitious endeavors to convey the message that Charlotte is a prime destination for any type of meeting or convention.
As the third most popular destination for filmmakers, cheap airlines ticket the picturesque city also offers a host of cultural, historic and outdoor attractions, including the U.S. National White Water Center, cheap airlines ticket a thriving sports and NASCAR scene, and 40 public golf courses.
Like Charlotte, Columbus, Ohio, is another second-tier destination battling the misconception cheap airlines ticket that there isn't much for visitors to do while they're there. In reality, the central-Ohio destination has a plethora of offerings for its leisure and meetings guests, not to mention an extra emphasis on personalized customer service. As the 15th largest city in the U.S. and the largest in the state, Columbus is not only home to The Ohio State University but to a vibrant professional sports, dining, shopping, arts and cultural scene, with the Greater Columbus Convention Center conveniently located at the very heart of the action.
According to Brian Ross, vice president of sales of Experience Columbus, cheap airlines ticket the city's convention and tourism bureau, cheap airlines ticket Columbus is going through a phase of strategic development that will continue through 2012, including $35 million in renovations to the GCCC. Part of this project cheap airlines ticket includes the conversion of an older exhibition space, Battelle Hall, into a 50,000-sq.-ft. carpeted ballroom, making it the largest of its kind in the state. cheap airlines ticket In addition, next summer, a two-year construction project will begin on a new 500-room convention headquarters hotel to be managed and operated by Hilton Worldwide, strategically positioned across the street from the convention center. Along with a new minor-league baseball park, an array of urban revitalization projects that will offer more cultural, entertainment and outdoor options for guests and residents, Columbus is promoting itself as an affordable destination with just as much to offer as any top-tier destination.
"We have been ranked as the second-most affordable city to hold a meeting in and feel value is our best asset," Ross says. "Additionally, we are a culturally diverse community that has a commitment to hospitality and can offer groups all the amenities cheap airlines ticket and attractions of a larger destination, at a significantly lower cost."
For a more personalized touch for planners, Experience Columbus has launched some strategic sales initiatives, cheap airlines ticket including "S.I.T.E. Columbus," aka "Special Invitation to Experience Columbus," a customized site inspection program that conveniently cheap airlines ticket allows meeting planners from nearby regions to experience Columbus all in one day.
"Columbus is within 500 miles of half of the U.S. population, so me