Executive meetings & travel guide.

• Position: Special section

CONFERENCES STIMULATE ECONOMY

Colorado resorts, conference centers and hotels are aggressively marketing their facilities to businesses across the country after being rocked by the fallout from Sept. 11, 2001, a downturn in the national economy, the war in Iraq and Wall Street stock scandals.

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"There has been a decline in the group conference business due to the economy as well as the corporate scandals," said Bob Benton, a hospitality-industry consultant with Parker-based Robert S. Benton & Associates. "It just didn't look good for businesses who were laying people off and losing money to be meeting in such places as Aspen and Vail."

But in 2004, Colorado's group-conference market began seeing a turnaround as the stock market recovered, resorts and conference facilities began offering aggressive rates to lure businesses back, and corporate America saw conferences as an incentive to reward people who stood by their companies.

Groups account for a significant segment of Colorado's tourism industry as meeting planners and incentive buyers book corporate, association and convention business in a range of facilities from skyscraper hotels in downtown Denver to mountain resorts and ranches and civic-owned convention centers.

In the Denver metro area alone, executive meetings and conventions represent a $780 million industry, according to a 2003 study by Longwoods International. The study, commissioned by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, reports that conventions account for $350 million of business travel or nearly $2,000 in spending per delegate over four days.

At the state level, Destination Colorado, a statewide membership association, conducts marketing programs targeted exclusively to the meeting planner and incentive buyer.

"Five years ago we had 50 members and today we have double that, which shows that Colorado businesses are realizing the value of the corporate-meeting market," said Janie McCullough, Destination Colorado spokeswoman. "For many of our Colorado properties, group business is their 'bread and butter.'"

Ilene Kamsler, president of the Colorado Hotel & Lodging Association, said executive meetings enable Colorado resort communities to operate year-round. "The resorts book meetings during such off-season months as October and May and are able to offer year-round employment which is a further boon to Colorado's economy," said Kamsler. "Business resulting from meetings and conventions is reliable and consistent, and not impacted by unpredictable events such as weather or the overall economy."

THE INVERNESS HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER

800.833.2875 | www.meetatinverness.com

Colorado's premier 4-diamond conference hotel, The Inverness Hotel and Conference Center, offers...