San Diego on top, but the competition never rests
By Joanne DiBona, dibona@sdcvb.org
When it comes to being named "the best," San Diego certainly has nothing to complain about. Our region consistently finds itself among the top destinations where national surveys are concerned, including: Best destination for families; best city for walking; America's most livable community; best spring and summer travel destination; and the list goes on and on.
In fact, we are often quite jaded when it comes to the many national "best" designations we receive in any year. But when San Diego was recently named the very best city in North America for conventions and meetings, we definitely paid attention, and for good reason.
Our region's convention and meeting industry is a significant economic generator, contributing in no small way to the $5.3 billion in visitor spending generated annually by travel and tourism -- San Diego's third largest industry.
Of course, when you are named the "very best," you must consider the source. In our case, the source is the nationally acclaimed Kansas City-based Watkins Research Group, in association with Flaspohler Research Group. This team conducts an annual survey that tracks the attitudes of those convention and meeting planners across the nation and Canada who make decisions about where to hold their company's or organization's next meeting. The Watkins study is considered the most prominent, comprehensive and authoritative product of its kind in the convention and meetings industry.
More than 400 decision makers were interviewed for this study and 44 cities were rated in the survey. These included all of San Diego's top competitors for convention business-Anaheim, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, New Orleans, Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Getting the very best distinction was based on a variety of categories, in which San Diego scored sky high. Yet while we can certainly celebrate this achievement, we can't become complacent or rest on our laurels, because the survey also pointed to the fact that our competitors are edging in closer in a relentless effort to take business away from San Diego. Let's review some of these categories to see why San Diego was rated the very best, while we take, at the same time, a sobering look at some current developments in the convention and meetings industry that may impact our position in the future:
Customer awareness: San Diego topped the list with 72 percent of respondents planning on coming to or returning to San Diego. San Diego also topped the "short list" of cities that meeting planning executives are considering for their next meeting. However, and not surprisingly, six of our top competitor cities are in the 2-7 positions on the list, proving how extremely competitive this industry has become.
Structural factors: San Diego was the top-rated city overall for structural factors, ranking in first place for superior convention center facilities and for attractive hotels. We came in third for easy accessibility to and around the city. But here again, we need to consider that convention destinations across the country continue to expand and improve their facilities in the face of increasing competition. For example, Orlando recently doubled the size of its convention center to 2.1 million square feet, placing it slightly ahead of Las Vegas and its 2 million square-foot convention center and second only to Chicago's 2.2 million square-foot McCormick Place.
Experiential factors: San Diego was also top rated for experiential factors, tying with Salt Lake City for best convention and visitors bureau; in sixth place on attractive free-time activities; and in seventh place for a safe and secure city.
Unfortunately, the severe budget cuts imposed on the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau (ConVis) in FY '05 (a reduction of $2.7 million in total budget) will definitely create a challenge in maintaining the same level of top-notch service that meeting and convention planners have come to expect from San Diego. We are making valiant efforts to do more with less, but the effects of such a substantial reduction in our operating expenses may take its toll on the exceptional reputation -- which includes major national award recognition as one of the best convention and visitors bureaus in the nation-that ConVis has enjoyed nationally for many years.
Most positive experience: San Diego was the top vote getter for "the ONE city in the U.S. or Canada that provided the most positive overall convention experience in the past 5 years." Super staff/service/hospitality made their convention in San Diego "memorable" for 43 percent of the respondents.
Hopefully, this factor will continue to serve us well as competitors vie for our business. There is no substitute for exceptional service and hospitality on the part of all those who deal with the convention visitor, from the taxi cab driver to the hotel concierge to the convention services representative at ConVis.
This is the "WOW" factor that impresses our visitors and keeps them returning to our destination again and again, and its importance in creating an overall pleasant convention experience cannot be understated or ignored. In fact, exceptional customer service, seemingly minor to some, is oftentimes the differentiating factor leading to the selection of a convention destination.
Deal makers/deal breakers: San Diego had 18 of the 19 attributes identified as "deal makers" by the respondents, including the number one attribute -- a headquarters hotel within a five-minute walk of a convention center. San Diego currently has two impressive headquarters hotels within that range of the center, which certainly places us in an enviable position. Yet again, we can't be complacent.
Other cities are getting the message, including our neighbor Los Angeles, which recently announced the construction of a 1,200-room hotel to be located adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The development will also include a 7,000-seat theater, 40,000-square-foot plaza, a multi-screened movie theater, restaurants and nightclub, a radio and TV broadcast center and 5,000 parking spaces. Until now, lack of a headquarters hotel has impacted Los Angeles in its efforts to attract major conventions and trade shows. When this development is complete, Los Angeles will definitely be a contender for the same convention and meetings business we are currently soliciting.
What lies ahead for San Diego's visitor industry as we face the challenges of increased competition and fewer resources with which to market San Diego? One thing is for certain: Our goal is to achieve the same outstanding results despite a significantly reduced staff and budget by discovering new and more expedient ways to promote San Diego as a premiere convention and leisure travel destination.
Even though we are confronted with a constant challenge to maintain our enviable position among competing convention and visitor destinations, I think you'll agree that it's a great tribute to us all to know that San Diego-in so many ways-is ranked among the nation's very best! Special thanks are in order to the many thousands of San Diegans, both within and outside of the visitor industry, who have helped to make this happen
