Upstate Cities Registered Increased Bookings In 1999

The New York Senate race isn't the only thing heating up in the state. Meeting bookings for the major upstate cities are getting warmer, too.

Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse all report that various efforts to improve their meeting facilities, beef up their sales staffs or come up with creative marketing niches are paying off.

Albany reported a substantial jump in confirmed bookings for future meetings, from 94 in 1998 to 121 in 1999. Total projected room nights attributable to booked meetings increased from 25,647 to 31,802. "We have a full sales staff now, and we recently added another convention services person so we can handle more business," said Gina Mintzer, director of sales for the Albany County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The state's capital city also is benefiting from a revitalization that's been taking place over the past few years. Restaurants and attractions have been added, hotel inventory has grown by 400 rooms in the last two years, and the city's convention center is undergoing a renovation that will be completed this summer. One of Albany's headquarters hotels, the Crowne Plaza, is undergoing a $10 million renovation that will be completed later this year.

Buffalo has seen steady growth in meetings business for several years and expects that trend to accelerate if a plan to expand the city's convention center wins final approvals. The Greater Buffalo CVB reported that it booked 194 meetings in 1999, an increase over 187 in 1998.

"Until have a final go-ahead on the convention center, we are pursuing more single-property business as opposed to city-wide conventions," said Karen Miranda, the bureau's vice president of convention sales and service. "But we've just come off of a very strong first quarter and our numbers are ahead of last year."

Exact booking figures were not available for Rochester, but the city reported that while bookings are holding steady, leads are way up. Steve Pierson, vice president of convention sales and services for the Greater Rochester Visitors Association, said lead increases are a result of utilizing the community's strength in a couple of specific niche markets.

"Rochester has been aggressively pursuing medical education and medical research meetings business, for one," he said. "And many physically challenged meeting attendees have said that Rochester has really stepped up to the plate for deaf and physically disabled individuals. Since Rochester has a substantial deaf community, it has worked hard to make the city accessible and friendly for all."

The Syracuse CVB booked more than 140,000 room nights last year, and issued more than 160,000 leads — both figures up considerably from the year before, noted spokesperson Tracy Kegabein.

"We reached 148 percent of our goal for leads, and 110 percent of our goal for bookings," Kegabein said. "Last year was the first year that we were fully staffed. Also, our product keeps changing and improving, which gives us more to sell." Syracuse recently completed a regional transportation center and an IMAX theater, for example.