The Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association is so hard up for good news that it's trumpeting meetings that will take place in Overland Park.
Though supported by taxpayers in Kansas City, Missouri, the KC visitors bureau is pleased to announce that the 2014 meeting of the National Forensic League will take place in beautiful OP. According to a press release, the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association and the Overland Park Convention and Visitors Bureau "collaborated" to secure the event, which is expected to generate as many as 12,000 room nights for Overland Park hotels. But, hey, the students, coaches and parents who attend the speech-and-debate tournament can cab it to the Plaza, right? Right?
The National Forensic League met in Kansas City as recently as 2009. The organization's decision to give the Kansas side of the metro a try deals a blow to a city that's dished out tens of millions of dollars in an effort to remain attractive in the eyes of meeting planners. An expansion of Bartle Hall opened in 2007. Later that year, the first pieces of the heavily subsidized Power & Light District began offering Bud and burgers to downtown visitors.
Yet in spite of all the glitter, Kansas City has lost or is in the process of losing its three biggest conventions. (Gone: Wal-Mart, Sam's Club; going: SkillsUSA.) Downtown is like a guy who spends all his time in a gym but can't still get a date.
Sure, Downtown's abs look great. But Orlando's really been hitting the gym, and he's got a nice car, too. Phoenix has a house with a pool and is kind to people who work in the service industry. And Vegas? To convention planners, he's the dreamboat who makes the super-awesome wedding proposal in the jewelry commercial.
Kansas City continues to want to compete like hell for convention business. Rick Hughes, the president of the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association, is among those pushing for the city to invest $300 million (or so) in a 1,000-room convention hotel. Hughes says the city's been "hemorrhaging" conventions for lack of convention hotel. Of course, in 2004, Hughes said the city was "hemorrhaging" conventions because there wasn't anything to do downtown.
A better term for what the city is doing is "chasing," chasing convention business that's not growing and harder to capture because other cities are also expanding their convention halls and hotels. (Some of these places offer year-round golf.) The buyer's market has reduced Kansas City to celebrating an event that will take place in another taxing jurisdiction. But, hey, better OP than Dallas, right? Right?
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A couple huge points are being missed here:
1) This convention could not have been booked in KCMO in 2014.
� The 2014 National Forensic League dates conflict with major conventions already happening in Kansas City (Educational Testing Service and SkillsUSA). Downtown hotels could not have accommodated it.
� In addition, the convention is highly dependent on participation of local school districts, and the Northland districts that hosted in 2010 were not able to commit to the volunteer support and fundraising necessary for hosting in 2014. The Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley districts were.
� KC is still in the running to land the 2018 convention, and northland school districts are interested in hosting then. By securing the 2014 convention in Overland Park, we have secured an additional opportunity for the metro to host this group.
2) KCMO benefits economically from this convention being in the metropolitan area.
� The hotel compression created by having this and other major conventions in town at the same time will push people to hotels not a part of the convention, including hotels in KCMO.
� Participants will fly in to KCI (KCMO collects tax revenues).
� Participants may rent cars at KCI (KCMO collects tax revenues).
� Participants may visit KCMO restaurants, stores and attractions (KCMO collects tax revenues).
� KCMO companies from transportation to convention services may serve as vendors for the convention.
3) The Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association represents the entire metropolitan area.
� From its founding as the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Kansas City (still its legal name), the KCCVA has also been a regional organization.
� The KCCVA collects revenues from the entire region. The KCCVA�s 1,800 member companies come from all over the metro area. These members provide funding to the KCCVA outside of the KCMO hotel tax.
� Hotels pay commissions to the KCCVA through its hotel lead-share program for conventions the KCCVA books. This includes hotels outside of KCMO.
4) The KC area last hosted the convention this year, 2010, not in 2009.
The Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association will continue to work hard to bring major conventions to the metropolitan area.
Alan Carr
Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association
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