Insurance Conference Planner: The Mid-South

Byline: Bob Andelman

WHAT'S NEW

This isn't Col. Sanders' Deep South any more. It's a place where business is being done and meetings are being planned. Small towns such as Hattiesburg and Pigeon Forge are competing for small and mid-size meetings and conventions. And big cities such as Memphis, Nashville, and New Orleans continue polishing older gems and adding new ones to lure business big and small. If your organization is sticking with domestic travel, yet is tired of the usual points of interest, you'll be delighted with what the South has to offer.

FACILITY UPDATE

KENTUCKY

A $66 million project to upgrade Lexington's Blue Grass Airport has been announced.

Work is wrapping up on the $50 million final phase of The Lexington Center. A conference area adjacent to the new 17,000-square-foot Bluegrass Grand Ballroom will be created, providing Lexington Convention Center with an additional 20,000 square feet of meeting and pre-function space.

Adjacent to the Kentucky International Convention Center, ground has been broken for the Louisville Marriott Downtown, a 620-room convention center headquarters hotel expected to open in spring 2005.

Louisville's largest hotels - the Executive Inn, Executive West, and Galt House Hotel & Suites - are getting a multimillion-dollar makeover. The work, to be done over the next two to three years, started with the Galt House property. An elevated walkway across Main Street linking to a pedway system to KICC was completed in November 2003.

The $23 million Kentucky Center for African-American Heritage will open in early 2005 in Louisville.

LOUISIANA

The 350,000-square-foot, $70 million Shreveport Convention Center is under construction and expected to take 24 to 30 months. A 300-room, 13-story Hilton Hotel will adjoin the convention center and should open within six months of completion of the center.

Several new hotels have opened in New Orleans this year and in 2003: Ramada Inn & Suites (with 130 rooms), Renaissance Arts Hotel (217 rooms), Loews Hotel/Lykes Building Conversion (282 rooms), Staybridge Suites New Orleans (182 rooms), Marriott Convention Center Hotel (331 rooms), and French Quarter Hilton (200 rooms).

MISSISSIPPI

The 367-room Isle of Capri is working on a $79 million expansion of its Biloxi property, which will include a 400-room hotel, a 12,000-square-foot multipurpose center, and up to 22,000 total square feet of flexible meeting space.

MGM Mirage's 1,780-room and -suite Beau Rivage Resort and Casino on the Mississippi Gulf Coast completed a recent $10 million project that converted the hotel's 26th floor to all suites, increasing the total number of suites to 95. The Spa & Salon at Beau Rivage also just finished an expansion including two new couples massage rooms. As many as 1,800 people can be accommodated in Beau Rivage's 50,000-square-foot meeting facility.

Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport increased its terminal size from 92,000 square feet to 165,000 square feet and will provide room for three new carriers. The project should be complete by 2006.

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Biloxi broke ground in February. The $235 million resort is scheduled to open in late summer 2005. The Hard Rock will feature a 306-room hotel, approximately 50,000 square feet of gambling space, and a Hard Rock Live club.

TENNESSEE

The Chattanooga Convention Center opened in April 2003 with 298,000 square feet of space. High-speed Internet access is available.

The $92 million expansion and renovation of the Memphis Cook Convention Center was the heart of a $5 billion downtown investment. The project created more than 35,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space. Groups can use the 2,100-seat Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, located inside the convention center, for assemblies and events. The Memphis Marriott Downtown, connected to the center, recently completed a $14 million expansion, bringing its room total to 602 and adding 5,100 square feet of meeting space.

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville plans to open a new 27,000-square-foot European-style spa, featuring an indoor-outdoor pool and 12 treatment rooms, next year.

ASK THE CVB

Kentucky

Greater Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau (800) 626-5646; (502) 584-2121 www.gotolouisville.com

Northern Kentucky CVB (800) 447-8489; (859) 261-4677 www.staynky.com

Lexington CVB (800) 848-1224; www.visitlex.com

Louisiana

New Orleans Metropolitan CVB (800) 672-6124; (504) 566-5011 www.neworleanscvb.com

Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau (800) 45-VISIT; (318) 222-9391 www.shreveport-bossier.org

Mississippi

Hattiesburg CVB (800) 638-6877; (601) 268-3220 www.hattiesburg.org

Mississippi Gulf Coast CVB (888) 467-4853; (228) 896-6699 www.coastalstyle.org

Tennessee

Chattanooga Area CVB (800) 322-3344; (423) 259-4739 www.chattanoogacvb.com

Nashville CVB (800)-657-6910; (615) 756-8687 www.nashvillecvb.com

Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism (800) 251-9100; (865) 453-8574 www.mypigeonforge.com

Phantom Planner

Pigeon Forge, Tenn.'s, permanent resident population is just 5,173, yet the city welcomes about 11 million visitors a year. At the heart of its appeal is Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the country's most visited national park. A warning to visiting groups that might want alcohol at events: The hotels in Pigeon Forge cannot sell alcohol. You can bring it in, but they can't serve it.

Use the shuttle in Pigeon Forge. The traffic is extremely heavy, and the trolley allows people to travel up and down the main parkway. You can go into Dollywood or Gatlinburg on the trolley. It costs only a quarter and runs continuously.

A free downtown electric shuttle connects 1,450 guest rooms with the Chattanooga Convention Center. The shuttles run every five to 10 minutes.

Looking for youth activities? The $2.5 million Extreme Park opened in 2003 in Louisville, Ky. The park offers facilities for skateboarders, bikers, and inline skaters.

Special Venues

The secluded Woods Hole Inn B&B in Folsom, La., is popular for small retreats.

New Orleans' Venusian Gardens Art Gallery, in a renovated church in the historic Faubourg Marigny District, opened in March. It is available for private parties and receptions.

Northern Kentucky University's Metropolitan Education and Training Services Center for Corporate Learning opened in September. The $12 million building boasts $5 million in high-tech communications equipment. Devoted exclusively to corporate learning, the 43,600-square-foot METS facility includes a 150-seat auditorium with two 8-foot rear-screen projectors, a plasma screen, digital recording and editing devices, videoconferencing capability, and audience response technology; banquet facilities for 400; three training rooms with 30 work stations; and an executive boardroom. The center is less than five minutes from Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.