Sheraton Grand Hotel a key asset to residents of Phoenix

As the community discusses the next steps for the Sheraton Grand Hotel, we must keep in mind that hundreds of millions of dollars would have been lost to other destinations if not for the 1,000-room downtown hotel.

The city’s investment in downtown vibrancy and the convention industry cannot be solely measured on eight years of historical activity. We should also consider the benefits that will greatly shape our city’s pathway to the future. The Sheraton’s longterm impact on Phoenix makes it an invaluable asset by creating the ability to bring large meetings to our city. The correlation between our downtown hotel inventory and gains made in convention center activity cannot be overstated.

The nearly 1.7 million attendees, exhibitors, and conference organizers at the convention center between 2009 and 2016 generated an estimated spending of more than $1.6 billion, according to the 2017 Arizona Auditor General report. These numbers do not include the attendance and expenditures of all conventions, trade shows, and other business events held in 2017, including the Final Four.

It’s not just the downtown hotels that benefit from business at the convention center. According to a Smith Travel Research study in 2015, large groups create hotel-room compression, which means occupancy increases throughout the Phoenix metro area.

And these conventions benefit local business. Delegates and their friends and family explore and spend money at local restaurants, venues, shops, museums, and other attractions.

Furthermore, many meetings are held here by innovative industries and companies that our community leaders seek to recruit to Arizona for economic development and business expansion. By showcasing our burgeoning downtown, the meetings industry can and should serve as a catalyst to entice decision makers to invest, relocate headquarters or open new Phoenix offices.

This year’s NCAA Final Four capped the Phoenix-hosted, mega-events trifecta held over a 26–month window. Visitors from the 2015 NFL Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and the recent Final Four infused a collective $1.3 billion into Arizona’s economy, according to ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business and a recent study released by the Seidman Research Institute.

This substantial economic boost could not have occurred without the Phoenix Convention Center, Sheraton Grand Hotel, the entire downtown hotel collection, and the dramatically improved amenity package of restaurants, live music venues, public transportation and a vibrant ASU campus. These attributes were integral components in the bids for these mega events as well as conventions and business events .

The city’s investment in infrastructure is what helps Phoenix win big business and compete with other top convention markets, including San Diego, Las Vegas, and Denver. Event organizers look for hotel-room inventory near the convention center. In fact, nearly half of all conventions since October 2008 have used the Sheraton as their headquarter hotel.

Phoenix’s hotel-ownership model used to develop the Sheraton Grand Hotel was also used by several cities, including Chicago, Denver and Austin. The city now has the opportunity to transition our main convention hotel to private ownership similar to San Diego, Washington D.C. and Nashville. This structural change eliminates the city’s risk on the hotel, provides for needed upgrades and continues the revitalization of America’s fifth-largest city.

Steve Moore is president & CEO of Visit Phoenix and has worked in the visitor industry for more than 40 years. Mike Ebert is managing partner for Red Development, and led the public-private partnership with the City of Phoenix to develop CityScape. Email them at smoore@visitphoenix.com and mebert@reddevelopment.com.