Georgia’s new convention “ice cream shops” had Savannah bracing for a conference freeze out.
Jekyll Island, Augusta and Athens were to open new or expanded convention facilities this year or in early 2013. Macon and Gwinnett County recently added hotels near their existing halls.
The improvements would allow those cities to better compete with Savannah for convention business, particularly the regular state association conferences that have long called Savannah home. Those groups would see Savannah’s rivals like dessert lovers do a new ice cream shop, according to the head of the local convention and visitors bureau, Visit Savannah’s Joe Marinelli.
“You’ll want to try it out,” Marinelli said in June following the opening of the Jekyll Island convention center.
Five months later, though, Savannah remains the Dairy Queen of the state’s convention locales.
Visit Savannah inked deals for two large conventions last week, including the 1,100-plus attendee Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) conference. Savannah officials also secured a verbal commitment to host a 2,500-person convention in 2014.
Looking at bookings through 2017, Savannah already is equal to or ahead of
the historical pace for convention-tied hotel room nights for 2014, 2015 and 2016. Throw in the tentative conference commitments — of which 40 percent typically translate to definitive bookings, according to Marinelli — and 2013 and 2017 will significantly outperform the historical average, too.
“We are seeing the competition change around the state, but we’re not losing market share,” Marinelli said. “At least not yet.”
Faltering foes
Savannah’s recent gains are partly tied to growing pains elsewhere.
Jekyll Island’s oceanfront facility opened in May, but construction has yet to begin on an adjoining hotel. The proposed 200-room Westin is seen as vital for the convention center to compete with Savannah and was scheduled to open in mid-2014.
Developers had planned to take advantage of the Georgia Tourism Development Act, a tax break that allows tourism-related businesses to keep a portion of sales tax collections for up to 10 years. But the initiative has yet to be implemented, and there remains debate over whether businesses such as convention center hotels would qualify for the tax credit.
The uncertainty led to the hotel delay, which officials say has already cost the convention center nearly $4 million in lost business.
The ACCG was among the groups planning to take its conference to Jekyll. Instead, the hotel issue led the group to sign an agreement to hold its conference in Savannah through 2017.
Costs have also hampered Augusta’s TEE Center. The 100,000-square-foot facility was built adjacent to the Marriott on downtown Augusta’s Riverwalk and was on pace to host its first convention in January.
City leaders have yet to approve operating agreements with a management company, however, and no plan exists to cover projected operating losses, estimated to exceed $800,000 in the first year.
With a January opening in doubt, the group scheduled to christen the TEE, the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, recently moved its conference to Athens’ The Classic Center. The organization stages two conferences a year and has hosted its summer event in Savannah every year since 2000.
“All these projects on hold around the state have opened up opportunities for us,” Marinelli said. “We have to take advantage and continue to work to stay ahead.”
Leveraging assets
Savannah’s hotel portfolio is the city’s main edge.
The city boasts four full-service hotels — those with a significant amount of meeting space, like the Westin — between downtown and Hutchinson Island and has several other high-end chain hotels in the downtown area. Having an abundance of “comparable properties” is an advantage for Savannah over its in-state peers, according to ACCG meeting planner Carol Baker.
“It becomes problematic if you have one or two full-service or high-end properties and a bunch of economy hotels,” Baker said. “You either need to have a bunch of high-end hotels or a bunch of low-end hotels. When they are not comparable is where it gets tough.
“That used to be a problem in Savannah but not anymore.”
Many in-state rivals are moving to address the discrepancy. Athens has a hotel mix similar to Savannah’s, but The Classic Center is much smaller than the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, even with a 25,000-square-foot expansion scheduled for completion next March. Macon opened a 220-room headquarters hotel adjacent to its Coliseum/Centreplex facility in 2009. Several high-end chain hotels have opened or are being developed in the proximity of the Gwinnett Center in Duluth.
Savannah officials have worked other angles to stay ahead as well. An aircraft hangar door added to the Trade Center in 2010 has attracted aircraft conventions and other groups that want to display large equipment inside an exhibit hall. Chatham Area Transit continues to refine its Savannah River ferry system and will add a fourth boat, the Mary Musgrove, in the coming weeks.
Plus, Savannah offers an outside-the-meeting-room experience its in-state peers can’t match.
“Our job is to earn, and keep on earning, the confidence that large groups like Georgia's county commissioners and Airborne Law Enforcement Association have placed in us,” said Bill Coffey, general manager of the Trade Center.
“Savannah does the rest.”