Big groups, full hotels remain as top goals

Columbus has a newly expanded convention center and a number of new or under-development hotels.

What it needs now is more big groups to fill those hotels.

That’s the takeaway from a meeting of the board of Experience Columbus on Wednesday.

The leaders of the city’s convention and visitors bureau were updated on progress toward goals set out in 2012 for its five-year Destination Columbus plan.

As the plan nears its conclusion, the group has hit a number of those goals. It has increased hotel-room bookings by visiting groups, boosted the number of leisure trips taken to central Ohio, and has seen the addition of jobs in the tourism and hospitality sector.

However, it still lags in key hotel-related metrics, especially hotel room rates.

And the group has fallen slightly short of its goal of increasing national group business.

Reaching these goals remains critical in filling the larger convention center and the growing number of hotel rooms.

In measuring its success, Experience Columbus compares itself to 10 other cities it considers peer competitors for meeting and convention business, including Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Nashville.

According to data from STR, formerly Smith Travel Research, Columbus hotels rank fifth in occupancy, at 67 percent, among 11 competitive cities for the year to date though August. Nashville ranks first at just under 75 percent, while Pittsburgh ranks last at 60 percent.

When it comes to average daily hotel-room rate, though, Columbus ranks last in its competitive set, at $103.55.

Although that can make Columbus more attractive to groups seeking to keep costs down, it’s not as good for hoteliers or recipients of Columbus bed taxes, including the convention center and Experience Columbus.

Brian Ellis of Nationwide Realty Investors, which owns the Hyatt Regency and just sold its Crowne Plaza and Lofts hotels across the street from the convention center to Hospitality Properties Trust, pointed out that more hotel rooms must be filled now to simply absorb the added number of available rooms in the market.

“That’s the age-old story: Occupancy is good, but revenue didn’t grow as quickly,” Ellis said. “It’s hard to grow rates when you’re continuing to add supply to the market. … It’s supply and demand.”

The solution to that is to increase the demand side.

National groups generate more hotel bookings and higher room rates than state or local groups.

The percentage of national groups as a percentage of all visiting groups has increased from 17 percent to 23 percent in the past five years, said Brian Ross, CEO of Experience Columbus.

“That number needs to be 30 (percent),” he said.

Ross said the group is working on promising leads for a number of national conventions and meetings for the next several years.

Meanwhile, Michael S. Brown, vice president of strategic development for Experience Columbus, said the group is launching an updated study of the cities Columbus competes with to better understand their strengths and what’s behind their successes. Experience Columbus also recently hired a new ad firm that will be working on new campaigns starting Jan. 1. BVK, A Milwaukee-based firm with an office in Miami that will work on Columbus branding, replaces Fahlgren Mortine. Fahlgren had been the agency for Experience Columbus for six years.