The Convention Business Comeback
Tapping Momentum From L.A. Live and a 1,001-Room Hotel, Downtown Is Finally Booking Major Conferences
by Evan George
Photo Credit: downtownnews.com
One hazy morning in June, as political and business leaders stood under an unlikely outdoor chandelier at the groundbreaking of the Convention Center hotel, they were doing more than just posing for a photo op. They were there to build buzz and hopefully kick start the city's moribund convention industry.
Five months later, tourism officials say the plan is working,
thanks in large part to the construction of the $900 million hotel, the centerpiece of Anschutz Entertainment Group's $2.5 billion L.A. Live project (the first phase, the Nokia Theatre, opened in October).
Since the groundbreaking ceremony alone, officials have landed as many new conferences as were signed in a one-year period starting in July 2004. More than 40 were booked this past year.
"Once the shovel went into the ground, that was when everything started to go, 'Yippee ka-yay,' and everyone started to get excited," said Michael Krause, senior vice president of sales for L.A. Inc., the city's convention and visitors bureau. "There's such a draw now to come Downtown."
That draw is largely the 54-story, 1,001-room hotel under construction in the middle of L.A. Live. Envisioned as the linchpin of the flashy new district, which will also include theaters, restaurants, a movieplex and more, the glass-clad complex will house an 878-room JW Marriott and a 123-room Ritz-Carlton topped with 224 luxury condominiums.
What matters most to the convention business, industry observers say, is having a major source of hotel beds finally open a stone's throw from the Convention Center. In the past, many convention goers had to take shuttles from other hotels Downtown or across the city.
"That certainly gives L.A. an advantage, there's no question about that," said Thomas Mobley with the International Association of Assembly Managers, an organization that represents convention centers.
L.A. Inc. officials like to divide Los Angeles convention business into two epochs: pre- and post-L.A. Live. The difference between the two, they say, is remarkable.
In fiscal year 2004-2005, L.A. Inc. booked just 12 conventions, paling in comparison to West Coast cities such as San Diego and Anaheim, which each have thousands of hotel rooms within walking distance of their convention facilities.
One year later, after breaking ground on the Nokia Theatre, the number of conventions jumped to 22. In the last year, 41 conventions signed contracts to come to Downtown L.A., for events as far off as 2016. Since July, 12 more convention deals have been inked.
With the hotel scheduled to be completed in 2010, L.A. Inc. officials said they expect bookings to continue to grow, and even break the record of 22 major conventions held in a single year.
Besides being good for L.A.'s reputation, there is an economic factor: Krause estimates that convention business generated about $322 million from July 2006 to June of this year. About $13 million of that went to city coffers in the form of hotel room taxes.
For all the progress, those numbers still lag behind L.A.'s nearest competitors. In the period that L.A. generated $322 million, the San Diego Convention Center reported more than $650 million in direct convention attendee spending and a regional economic impact of $1.5 billion. In the six years since major renovations to that bayside facility, conventions have generated more than $140 million in hotel taxes, according to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.
Jack Kyser, vice president and senior economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, said that despite all the pieces falling into place, Downtown L.A.'s gains could come slower than some hope.
"You look at San Diego right now and you see two huge 1,000-room hotels adjacent to their convention center and a third under construction," said Kyser. "We're just on our first 1,000-room hotel."
LA Live already starting to pay-off.
Prev
to. 
Linear Mode
