More and more meeting planners are looking toward midsize cities to host their programs. Many groups are getting priced out of the larger metropolitan areas as rates for hotel rooms, meeting venues, food and beverage, and other ancillary spend increases incrementally every year. At the same time, midsize cities from Calgary, Canada to Stuttgart, Germany have undergone sweeping urban revitalization efforts, building up their infrastructure and transportation links. They’ve increased airlift, hotel, and venue capacity, and enhanced their visitor experience exponentially. The result of these shifts is that for some destinations, being a midsize city is no longer necessarily a negative for attracting events. Midsize destinations have easily navigable downtown footprints. They often have a unique visitor experience or local vibe that’s not easily duplicated elsewhere. More than anything, midsize cities are more affordable, and local leaders in both the public and private sectors go further out of their way to service groups because they appreciate the business. Join Greg Oates, Executive Editor, SkiftX and Carina Bauer, President & CEO, IMEX Group for a conversation and case study examination on The Rise of Midsized Cities in the Meetings Industry.

2. Leveraging Local Innovation in the
Las Vegas Meetings Industry
+
The Rise of Midsize Cities
in the Meetings Industry

3. This Skift Trend Report was produced
in partnership with IMEX Group

4. Meetings industry insight:
Meetings Innovation Report > Weekly newsletter
defining the future of meetings and events
Skift Cities > Exploring the evolution of cities as
hubs for collaboration and innovation
Knowledge Share Initiatives > Workshops,
research, and educational programming exclusive to
Skift’s brand partners

5. Today’s Speakers
Carina Bauer
CEO,
IMEX Group
James Jessie
SVP,
Convention Sales,
Travel Portland
Greg Oates
Executive Editor,
Brand Strategy,
Skift
Kristin McGrath
VP of Sales,
Visit Albuquerque

6. What is a “midsize” or “2nd-tier” city?
Global Center for Health
Innovation, Cleveland

7. Beakerhead,
Calgary
3 Big
Shifts

8. Music City Center, NashvilleShift #1: The reurbanization of midsize cities
Music City Center, Nashville

9. Source: Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.

10. “Keep Portland Weird” & “Keep Austin Weird” = indie spirit

11. Beakerhead Festival, CalgaryShift #2: Big cities are getting pricey for more groups

12. Average hotel group rate increases in 2018
— American Express Global Meetings Forecast 2018

13. “I like learning what 2nd-tier cities are doing to make themselves more
exciting. Especially as our budgets are increasingly pushing us out of
major cities, we have to consider these 2nd-tier cities for our major
events.”
— Brianne Lamm, Marketing & Events Manager, Int’l Microelectronics Society
Hotel Chaco, Albuquerque

14. Shift #3: Midsize cities are startup cities
Chattanooga Innovation District

15. “There’s an evolutionary explosion of different types of technology being
created in Bristol. What we’ve learned here, just plugging things together
in new manners can create new products, services and business models.”
— Ben Trewhella, Founder, VR World Congress, Bristol, England

17. “The primary challenges with 2nd-tier cities are
accessibility and capacity, depending on the
scale of the group."
— Neil Mulligan, Senior Future Host Manager, UBM EMEA
However...

18. Q+A

19. “That ‘It’ factor we have as a unique destination has been driven
by the entrepreneurial spirit of our makers in Portland.”
— Steve Faulstick, Chief Sales Officer, Travel Portland

20. “For Portland, we explain it simply as:
‘The difference is worth the distance.’”
— James Jessie, SVP, Convention Sales, Travel Portland

21. 23rd Avenue, Nob Hill, Portland

22. Innovate ABQ, Albuquerque

23. “We’re designing our city to be a
collision space for new ideas.”
— Tania Armenta, President & CEO, Visit Albuquerque

24. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

25. How are you changing planner perceptions?
Hyatt Regency Portland

26. Should midsize cities position their size as a benefit for attendees?

27. How do you create a story worth telling?

28. THANK YOU / Inquiries: skiftx@skift.com
Albuquerque Museum Foundation

29. FIND YOUR CVB DESTINATION EXPERT HERE

30. Keep in Touch
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Email
contactus@empowermint.com
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