Connecticut ramps up push to draw meetings, conventions
Whether it is for a crossword championship, a corporate meeting or a softball tournament, meetings and convention visitors bring money to the state, spend it in a short amount of time and, ideally, leave with favorable experiences that warrant repeating.
Connecticut claims to reap $6.75 for every dollar it invests to attract meetings.
The Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau, the state”™s official meeting and sports event sales and marketing arm, is increasing its efforts to bring more meetings, conferences and sports tournaments to Fairfield County, said H. Scott Phelps, bureau president.
- H. Scott Phelps, president of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau (front row, far left), and Patricia Patusky, superintendent of recreation for the town of Stratford Recreation Department (back row, far right), at the Convention & Sports Bureau”™s award ceremony in May.
While there have always been events in Fairfield County, Phelps said the bureau is now focusing more regionally, featuring proximity to New York City and attractions within the state like New Haven”™s Peabody Museum, the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and beaches. The Convention & Sports Bureau was responsible only for the greater Hartford area until 2012, when it became a statewide organization.
Besides short-term economic gain, events also present an opportunity to make visitors future tourists.
“We”™re really going after the event first, but then we want people to have a good experience, to get a taste of Connecticut and come back for more,” Phelps said.
Last year the bureau had about a $1 million budget, funded by the Connecticut Office of Tourism under the Department of Economic and Community Development and by private sponsorships, memberships and services.
According to bureau data, the organization generates $6.75 in sales tax per every $1 it spends to recruit events to the state. Last year, visitors in Connecticut for events spent more than $68 million on hotels, dining, shopping and entertainment.
Phelps said other cities and states see the economic impact of hosting events, making it a competitive industry. He said the bureau has vied for bids for events against nearby states and cities nationwide.
“It”™s about importing dollars earned in other states and having them spent in Connecticut,” he said.
Phelps especially sees potential in Stamford, where Director of Economic Development Thomas Madden is increasing efforts to market the city to meeting planners and sports associations. Madden, who came to Stamford last summer after working for 10 years in Greenburgh”™s Department of Community Development and Conservation, is now on the board of the Convention & Sports Bureau.
He said Stamford is competing with other towns along the Interstate 287 corridor and in the tristate area for events. Madden said he saw the events market in Westchester County and is eager to bring it to Stamford.
“We”™d really like to become the premier destination for meetings and events,” he said.
Madden recently held a tour with meeting planners from New York and New Jersey who were impressed with Stamford, Phelps said. Madden said another tour is in the works.
One of Stamford”™s draws is that it is less than an hour train ride from Manhattan and is cheaper than hosting an event in New York City, Madden said. It could be one-third to half the cost compared with New York City, he said.
Madden said businesspeople that work in Manhattan enjoy leaving the city for Stamford. It has a walkable downtown, restaurant variety and entertainment options, including the Palace Theatre, the Avon Theatre and the outdoor summer concert series at Columbus Park, he said.
He said Stamford has about 3,000 rooms between its biggest hotels ”” the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa, the Hilton Hotel Stamford and Sheraton Stamford ”” and others in the area.
Stamford”™s hotels have about a 74 percent occupancy rate during the week, rooming businesspeople in town for off-site day retreats, strategic planning meetings or regional conferences.
Madden hopes to use the UBS building on Washington Boulevard, which has a large trading floor, for meetings and conferences. “That would make an incredible convention space,” he said.
He said Chelsea Piers, a sports and meeting facility that opened in 2012 and expanded last year, has been a “huge economic gain.” It has hosted hockey tournaments, swimming meets and corporate team-building activities. Madden wants to attract tournaments in all sports to boost occupancy at hotels during the weekend.
Patricia Patusky, director and superintendent of recreation for Stratford”™s Recreation Department and tournament director for Stratford Softball Tournaments Inc., said the town has hosted Amateur Softball Association tournaments since 1993. Patusky recently won a Bring it Home Award from the bureau for her contribution to making the state a successful major sports venue. She said the bureau estimated the tournaments in 2012 and 2014 brought in about $2.3 million combined. The next tournament is July 29 to August 2 and is expected to bring $1.3 million, Patusky said.
Players from more than 30 teams come with their families, including parents and siblings that eat, shop and tour during their free time, she said. The “captive audience” stays in the area for three to five days, she said. She said she and volunteers make the event a good experience for visitors.
“Having events here, we try very hard to be very organized and customer friendly and put the town in the best light to them and the surrounding areas,” she said.
Bob Murdock, sports marketing director for the Convention & Sports Bureau, said Stamford will host the 2016 Maccabi games, a Jewish athletic competition for school-aged teenagers. The games were hosted in Stamford in 2006. Murdock said people are more likely to hold an event in Connecticut if they have already done one in the state.
“The goal really is repeat business,” he said. “It”™s a lot easier to keep an event here than it is to get one here.”
This article has been updated to reflect that Bob Murdock is sports marketing director for the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau. A previous version incorrectly stated his title.