Successful Meetings - September 2009 - (Page 82)

PHOENIX / SCOTTSDALE > THE SILVER LINING THE SILVER LINING A MEDIA FRENZY OVER TWO MEETINGS HELD HERE HAS MADE IT AFFORDABLE FOR PLANNERS By Leo Jakobson, leo.jakobson@nielsen.com etween the tight economy and the bad press meetings have been getting, there’s never been a better time to lock in the kind of rate corporate planners could only dream about 18 months ago. And thanks to a local TV news station, right now there are few places where that’s more true than in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area. “We are in the same boat as everyone,” says Laura McMurchie, vice president of communications for the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Because we worked so hard to garner the cachet of a luxury destina- B tion, we are at a bit of a disadvantage now.” That said, she adds, “There are planners who are still tasked with booking meetings, and we want to make sure they know how affordable Scottsdale is. Planners who thought they couldn’t afford Scottsdale are looking at it now and finding they can.” The Phoenix/Scottsdale area’s problems began in July, when first the Social Security Administration (SSA) and then an Arizona teacher training conference were lambasted in a pair of hidden-camera reports by a local television news station that alleged participants were living it up on the taxpayers’ dime at area resorts like the Biltmore in Phoenix, and at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort and Westin La Paloma Resort, both in Tucson. Both of the government training conferences were held in July, when the temperature in Arizona routinely tops 100 degrees, and the groups were therefore able to book high-end resorts at extraordinarily low rates—the SSA paid $85 per room-night and the resort fee was waived, according to the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association. Record low rates can be found and locked in Left, the Phoenix Convention Center; right, Scottsdale’s newest luxury resort, the InterContinental Montelucia 82 I SM I September 2009 I SuccessfulMeetings.com http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - September 2009

Successful Meeting - September 2009
Table of Contents
Incentive Travel Report
Convention Centers
Shiny & New
Social Agenda
Meetings Merchandise
Rocky Mountain Resorts
Greater LA
Phoenix/Scottsdale
Caribbean
Monaco
Hawaii: Incentive Planner's Handbook
Hawaii Table of Contents
Paradise Found
No Task Too Big
Golf, Hawaii-Style
Nevada
Nevada Table of Contents
Las Vegas: New and Now
Meet Me in Las Vegas
That's Entertainment
Suburban Sancuaries
Meet Me in Reno-Lake Tahoe

Successful Meetings - September 2009