Vol. 2 No. 10, October 2005
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Meeting The Challenge
Jeffrey Vasser and the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority market the city to the corporate world
In the corner of Jeffrey Vasser's office at the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, there sits a large saltwater tropical fish tank. Vasser, executive director of the authority for over three years now, is educating himself to make sure conditions in the tank are just right for the multi-colored fish he hopes to house there.
The water can be neither too warm nor too cold, saline levels have to be kept just so, and if you add too many fish, the coral growing in the bottom of the tank will die.
All of this attention to detail applies equally well to making sure Atlantic City and the convention center itself have what it takes to make them attractive to corporate meeting planners and convention organizers, who can be every bit as temperamental about their surroundings as tropical fish—the difference being that while Vasser's saltwater tank is still empty, the convention business is quite healthy.
Last year, the city hosted 55 conventions and trade shows with over 234,000 delegates for a total economic impact of $296 million.
The centerpiece of the authority is the Atlantic City Convention Center, which opened in 1997. With over 500,000 square feet of contiguous space, five exhibit halls, and 45 meeting rooms, the center can accommodate almost any size event. The authority also operates the renovated Boardwalk Hall (the former Convention Hall), which opened in 1929 to boost the city's economy during the pre-casino off-season.
So how does one go about marketing a city to groups whose diversity runs the gamut from the National Catholic Educators Association, the Governor's Housing Conference, and the New York State Nurses Association to the Hot Import Nights Car Show and Atlantic City Chopper Fest? According to Vasser, the marketing technique varies depending on the needs of the group and the type of gathering, which could be a convention, a trade show, or a public show. "You have three different types of shows and consequently three different selling techniques," he says. "We network, we advertise in industry magazines, we're always knocking on doors."
Most recently, Vasser and three of his salespeople attended the American Society of Association Executives annual meeting in Nashville. They also set up a booth every year at the Meeting Planners International gathering. "We are constantly going to those types of events where all the association and corporate meeting planners are," Vasser says. "We pack up our booth and we invite all of our hotel partners to come with us."
Part of the authority's job is overcoming common misconceptions about the city. "We have some perception problems in Atlantic City that date back to 20 years ago," Vasser says. "They're just not true anymore. So what we do is bring the meeting planners here. Around the Eagles concert, around the boxing matches, and so on, we will invite them down, put them up in a hotel, send them a gift basket, and show them the city. Nine times out of ten, their attitude is, ‘I had no idea this was Atlantic City!' And they'll go back to their office and when it's time to do an East Coast rotation they'll say, ‘We should give Atlantic City a shot.'"
One of their biggest coups was the acquisition of the Philadelphia National Candy, Gift & Gourmet Show. The show for confectionary manufacturers and wholesalers has been held in Philadelphia for 56 years but will move to Atlantic City in January 2006.
With the opening of two new venues—The Walk and The Quarter at Tropicana—shopping has become a selling point. "The gaming helps, the beach and Boardwalk help; now it's the shopping," says Vasser. "Whether someone's coming for business or leisure, shopping is one or two on the favorite activity list. From our point of view, we don't want you to just stay and do your business Tuesday through Thursday. Bring your spouse in for the weekend and spend a few extra days. That's when we know we've really done our job."
While it's true that the city's longstanding connection with the Miss America Pageant ended this summer, Vasser doesn't believe there will be any problem making up the lost revenue. "We're sorry to lose Miss America because she was a great icon for the city," he says. "But the truth is, the pageant tied up Boardwalk Hall for a solid month every September. It will be pretty easy to replace the business during that time of year."
For the casinos, every group the Convention &Visitors Authority brings into town is potential new business. "We have a great relationship with all of our partners in the hotel community," Vasser says. "Our job is to bring them business when they need it. In the summer, we don't even bother them. The casinos have their goals and they do their own marketing. They don't give us too much thought, but when we're active and we have a good year, they have a tremendous year."
Hotel-Casino Support
The authority also acts as a clearinghouse for meeting planners. With an inventory of all 12 casinos, plus the Sheraton and the Holiday Inn, when a potential client calls, Vasser's staff knows immediately which properties will meet the criteria. They call the hotels to see if they're interested, and then they assist in the negotiations.
One property that actively pursues the convention business is the Borgata. "We operate on a Las Vegas business philosophy, which is a bit different than what the East Coast gaming model has been in the past," explains Bob Franklin, Borgata's director of sales. "The Vegas philosophy is very involved in the meetings and conventions segment as well as the cash segment. Their non-gaming revenues are equal to their gaming revenues, where in Atlantic City non-gaming revenues were pretty much non-existent."
The Borgata property was designed and built to attract all types of market segments. In addition to the second-largest number of hotel rooms in the city, it boasts 70,000 square feet of meeting space with accommodations suitable for groups of 10 up to 3,000. Meetings and conventions are significant, not just because they have 2,000 hotel rooms to fill, but also because of the profit margin involved.
"The convention business is one of the building blocks to ensure that we meet our occupancy and revenue numbers," Franklin says. "Meetings and conventions bring a profit into the property because you have catering involved. On top of that you get restaurant and nightlife involvement from attendees at conventions. They bring shopping revenues with them. And there's obviously a gaming element. People who go to conventions in gaming destinations tend to visit the floor."
The Borgata is currently in the middle of two expansion projects that will likely make the property even more attractive to convention and meeting planners. Phase one, which is slated to open in the second quarter of 2006, will add 500,000 square feet of public space including three new culinary partners (Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay, and Michael Mina), a high-end lounge, more casino space, and an upscale food court. Phase two is an 800-room hotel tower set to open at the end of 2007.
With the addition of The Quarter, the Tropicana has become another heavy hitter in the convention arena. "We did a lot of convention business before The Quarter opened," says Jim Ziereis, the assistant vice president of hotel sales for Tropicana, "and it has just boomed since The Quarter opened. Through August, we have already hosted 416 separate groups. That's a 70 percent increase over the previous year."
According to Ziereis, the Tropicana had the convention business foremost in their minds when planning the Cuban-themed addition, which added 502 rooms to the existing 1,624 and created the largest hotel in town. They also boast 122,000 square feet of meeting space. "We took a lot of time researching what the convention market is looking for in hotel accommodations when we built the new Havana Tower," he says. "Simple things, such as a safe in the room, a refrigerator, high-speed internet access—these things were found to be very important."
Some of the groups hosted by the Tropicana include the New Jersey Water Environment Association, Campbell's Soup, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, BP Lubricants, and the U.S. Department of Labor. "We also participate with the groups that are over at the convention center to assist them with their housing," Ziereis says. "We're getting a lot of great feedback. If they go to other larger cities, there are very few inclusive destinations. They have to pay for transportation to a museum to do a reception, for instance. But here, there's so much under one roof that they're finding it a great value."
With its 140,000 square feet of meeting space and 1,250 hotel rooms, the Trump Taj Mahal has been a convention player since it opened its doors in 1990. "The Taj has always been and continues to be a dominant player in the Atlantic City market when it comes to accommodating convention business," says Director of Sales Joan Mooney. "We have a diversified array of meeting space available, from the 63,000-square-foot Mark Etess Arena to boardroom setups for 20."
The Taj claims a loyal meeting clientele that books with them year in and year out. "We're fortunate to have that repeat business," says Mooney. "And we're enhancing the amenities available to the convention business. We just completed installing high-speed internet access in all of our meeting rooms and hotel rooms. We've renovated two of our ballrooms, and all of the hotel rooms in the tower, as well as the swimming pool, health club and lobby bar."
Regional Efforts
Since taking over the reins of ACCVA in 2002, one of Vasser's goals has been to regionalize the authority's marketing efforts. "When I got here, we were going after convention business all over the country," Vasser says. "And when I looked at our lost business reports, I read ‘airport, airport, airport.' But we have plenty of opportunity in our own backyard. New York, North Jersey, Washington—they're just great places for corporate business."
Because of their need to meet annually, associations are even bigger targets for the authority. "Most of them are based in Washington, so we have an office down there," Vasser explains. "We have one salesperson there whose job is just to get into the association market—go to their lunches every month and network."
Though the lack of a major airport has been a limitation, Vasser sees that changing. "The South Jersey Transportation Authority is doing a great job," he says. "Two years ago they brought in Delta. That was huge for us. They offer three flights a day from their second-largest hub, Cincinnati, which opens us up to 140 destinations."
For now, Atlantic City has Delta providing an east/west connection and Spirit covering the north/south routes. But Vasser believes it's just a matter of time before Atlantic City has a truly international airport. "There's a chicken-or-the-egg situation between the airport and hotel rooms," he explains. "The more hotel rooms we get in this city, the more it behooves an airline to look at us. There's a magic number in the industry—20,000 rooms for an airline to take notice and explore. We're one expansion and a new property away from meeting the 20,000 room mark."
Of course, attracting convention business to the city is one thing. Making sure things run smoothly while they're here is another. Vasser believes that aside from the fact that Atlantic City has the largest convention center in the area, the hospitality they offer is a reason so many of their clients return year after year. "We're lucky that we have a large number of what we call annuals," he says. "We have a lot more than most other destinations. The important part is servicing them. We have a whole department that's set up just to cater to them."
From housing and transportation to registrars and restaurant reservations, the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority's reputation for service may be why they have bookings as far out as 2009. As the relocation of the Philadelphia National Candy, Gift & Gourmet Show proves, the convention business in Atlantic City just keeps getting sweeter all the time.
