Hotel, promotion tops hospitality leaders' wish list

SYRACUSE - Members of the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association (NYSHTA) presented their concerns to legislators at the group's annual reception held Feb. 7 at the University Sheraton. More than 50 hotel managers, tourism officials, and other hospitality-industry employees expressed their concerns to county and state legislators during the two-hour reception.

Adding a hotel to the Oncenter convention center is high on the wish list for Jan Quitzau, executive director of the Syracuse Convention and Visitors Bureau. The addition of a 300- to 400-room facility connected to the convention center will help the CVB market the Oncenter as a meeting place, he says. The Oncenter has received the Association Meetings Inner Circle Award for the past three years, proclaiming the facility as one of the nation's top-10 meeting places.

"A downtown convention hotel is essentiai for competing in the national meetings market," says Quitzau.

Quitzau also urged the Onondaga County Legislature to release $362,000 in tourism marketing funding currently held in contingency by the body.