When you ask the people who book conventions what matters most, and the answer isn’t the skyline. It’s the bill.
At least that was the result of a study included in the effort to determine the viability of the proposed Meadowlands Convention Center, released Monday.
In a nationwide survey of meeting and convention planners, 53% named total cost (venue, labor and services) as a top priority in choosing a site. That’s ahead of every other factor.
On that measure, the Meadowlands beat Manhattan 71-9, a rare victory for New Jersey in its effort to beat New York City for big events.
Meadowlands Chamber CEO Jim Kirkos obviously was thrilled.
“Our cost structure here in the Greater Meadowlands, especially with hotels, has always been 20-40% under Manhattan,” he told BINJE. “New York City is the greatest city in the world and our proximity to it is another advantage.”
The survey is part of the case behind a proposed convention center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The Meadowlands Chamber and the Meadowlands 2040 Foundation have completed a two-year Scoping Assessment of the project. They have asked the Governor’s Office for $2.7 million to $3.8 million to fund a state-supervised review that would determine whether to build it.
The lead consultant on the Scoping Project, Axiom Communications, designed and commissioned the study with Meetings Today Media, the research firm Cygnal and the David Dubois Group.
“At each stage of the project we have re-filtered findings through third parties to assure we haven’t missed anything,” Axiom President Ron Simoncini said. “The survey and focus group programs gave us an opportunity for reaction to the project from people who were learning about it from scratch, and the results were exceptionally validating.”
The focus group session with eight C-suite level executives was comprised of two 90-minute sessions that took a deep dive into their decision-making process when choosing a convention center destination, specifically exploring the nature of the location and the envisioned facility.
The survey included 300 travel and tourism professionals responsible for producing meetings and conventions.
The findings:
• 90% of planners were familiar with the Meadowlands;
• 80% of planners surveyed would consider booking an event at the facility, and 45% said they would be very likely to;
• Planners rated the Meadowlands 65-13 favorable, in the range of established Northeast destinations: Boston (65-9), Baltimore (67-12), Atlantic City (69-12), the Javits Center (71-12), Washington (73-9) and Philadelphia (74-7);
• Cost is the top factor in site selection. In the survey, 53% named total venue, labor and service costs as a top priority;
• The Meadowlands beat Manhattan on cost (71-9), on ease of getting attendees there (56-16) and on appeal (49-25).
What’s not shown is what types of events the proposed Meadowlands complex would be pursuing. The building isn’t designed to chase the biggest shows. It’s aimed at the middle of the market.
Half of the planners surveyed run events of 2,000 or more people. That’s the mid-size range that tends to get priced out of New York, and it’s the range the Meadowlands facility is designed for.
Kirkos did the math.
“Nearly 85% of the trade shows in the United State today are in facilities less than 400,000 square feet,” he said. “That’s our market. Our aim is to achieve the forecasted 300+ event day bookings each year. Then we will see the fruits of the $30 billion impact.”
This also answers another sensitive question: Organizers say the proposed venue wouldn’t take business away from Atlantic City (see story here).
The proposed convention center would sit on the former Meadowlands Arena site in East Rutherford. Plans call for approximately 460,000 square feet of exhibition, meeting and ballroom space, a multipurpose arena, a 1,000-room headquarters hotel envisioned as privately financed, and transportation, parking and infrastructure improvements.
The development is estimated at $3.8 billion to $4.25 billion, built through a public-private partnership. Backers project 5,000 union construction jobs, more than 3,700 permanent jobs, events on as many as 313 days a year, 2 million annual visitors and $30.4 billion in long-term economic activity.
The money for the study now being requested would pay for a business plan, a financing strategy and engineering, environmental and operational reviews. A work group appointed by the governor would oversee it, with the N.J. Economic Development Authority and the N.J. Sports and Exposition Authority taking part. (see story here)
Kirkos stressed that the funding isn’t a commitment to build. It’s a commitment to decide – one the convention planners apparently have given their blessing.
“We conducted the nationwide study and Focus Group to add one more layer of confidence in our data,” he said. “This was real industry executive who currently plan events all over the country that ratified our findings.
“I am not sure what more we can do to convince policy makers this is a worthy project to pursue.”
