Atlanta Seeks Conventions!
Atlanta is a city that thrives with conventions. In fact, one of the big selling points for building Hartsfield Airport was to attract more convention traffic, and Atlanta was in the vanguard of that industry.
Now, however, things have become much more competitive. More cities than ever before are developing convention centers and business still has not reached pre 9-11 levels.
With small conventions and more cities competing to host them, the pressure is on Atlanta.
How are we responding?
The good news is that we continue to have a powerhouse convention and visitors bureau. The ACVB aggressively markets Atlanta and provides services to conventions so that they will come here. Further, their strategy is to build town loyalty.They want conventions to come here once and then come back repeatedly. They are so big that they provide a single form from which they’ll send you a proposal to provide everything for your convention.
Lauren Kenworthy, an ACVB representative, says Atlanta has some great things going for it. First, there are 90,000 hotel rooms in walking distance of the Georgia World Congress Center, which is the largest convention hall in the U.S.A. Second, you can get to the hall and most hotels on MARTA transit straight from the airport.
Third, a number of cultural attractions are coming on line that make Atlanta an attractive destination. The Georgia Aquarium and the New World of Coke, in conjunction with Centennial Park will increase the density of cultural attractions, increasing the likelihood that families will accompany conventioneers to Atlanta.
Fourth, she points out that nearly all major sports venues are downtown. I had never thought of this as a vital element in being a serious convention city, but it makes sense. There is a certain attractiveness to finishing your days events and then crossing the street to go see the game. Apparently, this is a big convention draw.
Atlanta’s main competition is Chicago, Orlando, and Vegas. They are the other cities with similarly sized facilities. Disne… I mean Orlando’s attraction is pretty obvious. So too with Vegas. Chicago has the advantage of being THE American City. It is both new and classic. This is where Atlanta begins to struggle.
Atlanta does not have the clear brand identity that the other cities have. Any southerner will tell you that Atlanta is not in the South. Any Northerner will tell you it’s too Southern. It has no defining character.
Other ground level problems remain as well. Downtown has seen retail die on the vine. Macy’s closed so there is no landmark department store. Muses, Riches, and Kesslers no longer exist in any meaningful way. Further, the high end boutiques that draw conventioneers are yet to find a niche in town. Underground has some, but its stability remains a key concern. Stores are yet to find a conformable environment in Fairlie Poplar. This lack of high end retail impedes both convention folks and folks who might otherwise consider living downtown.
Atlanta, as with other cities, also faces a vagrancy problem. Pan handlers lead to a perception among visitors that streets are not safe and that the environment is not what it should be. As one policeman said “Please don’t feed the bears!”.
I was surprised to learn that Ms. Kenworthy did not see a large scale entertainment facility such as Jillians or Dave and Busters as making a significant difference in attractiveness for conventions. If this is because there are already enough other smaller entertainments so that such a facility would not make a difference, that’s promising! If it’s because such a facility would dominate other entertainments, it means that Atlanta’s cultural commitments have a ways to go.
Ms. Kenworthy says that Atlanta could handle far more conventions than are currently planned. There is still more capacity than interest. More retail, successful sports teams, a revitalized Underground, and more cooperation with Central Atlanta Progress and the city will help attract more tourists and conventioneers… and that will forge a stronger Atlanta.
[On a personal note, Ms. Kenworthy is a delightful person who was very giving of her time. I am most grateful.]
June 23rd, 2004 at 4:26 pm
Don’t - in all seriousness - overlook the impact that strip clubs have in attracting conventions to Atlanta. The city has a reputation as a great (read: all nude) strip club town, and although it’s on the hush-hush, convention planners know they’ll get big crowds when they set up in Atlanta because of the Cheetah, Pink Pony, etc.
It would be interesting to know how the demise of The Gold Club impacted convention business.
June 23rd, 2004 at 5:21 pm
Robert,
Thanks for your nice comment. I’m happy to have helped and think your blog turned out great. A few notes of correction, however. The GWCC is not the largest convention center in the country but is in the top 5 largest. Also, I think the relationship with CAP was a little mistated in that our ongoing cooperation is key, moreso than it needs to be increased. We’ve enjoyed a fantastic working relationship with them and are mutually supportive of a revitalized downtown.
Thanks Robert. Keep up the good work!
June 23rd, 2004 at 9:09 pm
The more I think about it, it’s not so much that Atlanta has no identity so much as it refuses to embrace that identity. Here’s how it seems to work: because it’s southern, Atlanta is ambivalent about being a city, and because it’s a city, Atlanta is ambivalent about being southern. This, of course, doesn’t change the fact that it is both southern and a city. It stands to reason that embracing its southernness would cost Atlanta nothing, and, with all the history of the city, a good argument could be made it would actually be quite an asset. Who wants to live in a wishy-washy, identity-crisis-ridden city anyway? Or visit it for that matter? Anyhow, that’s my Confederate expatriate take on the situation. (That sounds nice, doesn’t it–”Confederate expatriate”? See, you CAN embrace your southern identity whilst distancing yourself from all the negative aspects. Alright, enough of that ridiculousness.) I’m curious what your thoughts on this are, seeing as we’re in opposite positions, me being in Boston now.
June 25th, 2004 at 7:17 am
I agree that Atlanta has an identity crisis. The city’s original reason for existence was it’s central location vis a vis railroads. The railroads have been replaced by the world’s busiest airport. Thus we remain a transportation hub, but we still do not embrace a unique enough identity.
I have to take issues with this statement however, “Any Northerner will tell you it’s too Southern.” How is that possible unless you are a Northener that has no idea what the South is about? Oh wait a minute. . .
Seriously, there is almost nothing “Southern” about the City of Atlanta.
But, I also dispute the notion that you can’t be Southern and a city at the same time. Take a stroll through Charleston or New Orleans or Richmond or Memphis.
Atlanta has to continue to build both amenities that are attractive and useful to conventioneers, and to preserve the unique things about its heritage.
When German companies come to town and rebuild the Margarte Mitchell House three times so that convention visitors can see something sort of Tara-like, I don’t think we get anywhere. She called it a dump and there was nothing left of the original building when they began. It’s artificial, hollow, an attempt at a romanticized Atlanta that never and doesn’t exist.
When and if we save places like Paschal’s, however, it seems to me we have done good. We’ve preserved part of a really essential and important part of our recent history. My neighborhood association will be giving tours to commemorate the Battle of Atlanta this summer, which started in East Atlanta. Tours at Oakwood Cemetary have stepped up which I think helps promote the real Atlanta. But Atlantans have to support and promote those kinds of initiatives, which means educating ourselves about our own city and then promoting it.
I seems to me that the struggle is between what Atlanta can do to be honest to its own real history and what private enterprise will do to attract people and make money based on steriotyped outside visions of Atlanta.
Atlanta needs some time on the therapy couch in order to come to grips with who it is. We’re the middle aged business executive that has made a lot of money but has kind ignored their family and is suffering an identity crisis. Landlocked aquariums and high tech coke museums are fun but
we also need to be able to visit the old jerk soda fountains where Pendleton’s agents pulled real Vanilla cokes and to see the Woolworth lunch counter where brave young men tried to right wrongs.
June 25th, 2004 at 11:07 am
I honestly don’t understand the idea that Atlanta isn’t southern. Culturally, Atlanta’s southern character can be seen in almost everyone you meet and is obviously reflected in the city’s development. Furthermore, there are plenty of places in the metro area that are very southern indeed. Sure, Atlanta may be somewhat less southern than, say, Winder, and you may get a lower grade gravy biscuit in town than out, but the idea that Atlanta isn’t southern seems ridiculous to me. It hasn’t been Florida-ized yet.
July 7th, 2004 at 12:43 pm
I agree with the comment that Atlanta needs to embrace its real history. A good place to start is Auburn Ave. I know progress has been made but it still has a lot of rundown buildings that if restored would enhance the historical significance of civil rights movement.
Another problem in the city is that Atlanta citizens are not friendly. Efforts to encourge people to smile vs the constant look of disgust would be helpful. Why would visitors want to venture out into a city where walking on the streets they only recieve looks of hostility? What ever happened to “Hello”, “You look lost can I help you?”, or “have a nice day”