CVB president to retire
Convention Visitors Bureau oversaw tourism growth during tenure
Mike Carrier, who as president of the Oklahoma City Convention Visitors Bureau oversaw its transformation into a Tier 2 market competitor, announced Thursday he is timing his retirement with completion of the new convention center this fall.
Carrier, hired by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber to lead the bureau in 2007, oversaw a revamp in marketing of the city, competition for events and an expansion in sales staff. He is set to retire Sept. 30.
During his tenure, the economic tourism impact in Oklahoma County as reported by the chamber grew from $ 2.1 billion to $2.45 billion. The number of hotel rooms in the city grew by 31% while hotel room taxes grew by 44%.
“I was so fortunate to close my career in such a dynamic environment,” Carrier said. “This community understands the potential meetings and tourism bring for the economy and for presenting Oklahoma City to the world.”
When Carrier was hired, the city's CVB was primarily focused on maintaining and growing equine events at State Fair Park. The original MAPS renovated and expanded the Cox Convention Center to make it competitive as a meeting destination while other MAPS projects, notably the Bricktown Canal, made the city more attractive for both tourists and meeting planners.
Roy Williams, CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, said Carrier helped guide the city's hospitality industry to becoming the fastest growing segment of the economy.
Carrier's career started with a stint in hotel sales before moving to sales at the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau. He went on to lead the convention and visitors bureaus in Greenville, South Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina, and Knoxville, Tennessee, before opening and operating a new convention center in Shreveport, Louisiana.
“Mike was the right leader for our community as we developed, planned and built our new convention center,” Williams said. “His extensive background combined convention sales and facility management and made him the ideal candidate. He has proven to be a leader that could dig in and bring our community's vision to life.”
Carrier has spent the last decade advocating for construction of the $288 million new convention center and the adjoining 605- room, 17-story Omni Hotel.
Carrier's retirement was originally intended to coincide not just with the opening of the convention center and the Omni, but also as the city was enjoying unprecedented success in attracting tourists and convention visitors.
The chamber is not disclosing any details on choosing a successor. But whoever takes over the bureau will do so with an industry devastated by the pandemic with the eight of 23 employees of the CVB recently laid off. The bureau's $ 1.5 million advertising budget was cut to $ 450,000 and traffic at the airport and hotel room stays have plunged to historic lows.
Air travel dropped to a 60-year low, and traffic at Will Rogers World Airport was down 95%. Hotels saw an unprecedented plunge in occupancy. By early April, downtown's historic Skirvin Hilton was among 25 local hotels closed while an estimated 15,000 hospitality workers in Oklahoma County were out of work.
Williams sees Oklahoma City making the jump into the Tier 2 convention market, however, with the opening of the convention center, the Omni, and hope an economic recovery is underway.
“I am so thankful that Mike held his retirement date to get us to the finish line,” Williams said. “His insight and his knowledge of this industry have been critical to our success, and I know we will benefit from his work for years to come.”