Downtown: 13 hotels (14 in 2012); 3,256 rooms (3,788 in 2012)
Adjacent to con- vention center: 6 hotels (7 in 2012); 1,552 rooms (2,084 in 2012)
NOT FAR AWAY: Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus is located within 550 miles of half of the U.S. population. Currently under construction and scheduled to open in the fall of 2012, the Hilton Columbus Downtown (above) is a 532-room, full-ser- vice convention hotel.
er popular destination for food, drinks, and nonstop nightlife. Here you can catch local bands or take in a big-name concert at LifestyleCommunities Pavilion, watch anNHLhockeygame at Nationwide Arena, or visit the aforementioned Huntington Park to take in a Columbus Clippers game. Leisure visitors and meeting professionals alike have
enjoyed Experience Columbus’ expanded ExperientialTourism Program. One of the first of its kind in the country, the programconsists of 57 tours designed to take guests behind the scenes of attractions and performances and provide participants access to expe- riences they won’t find anyplace else. Each one offers a carefully designed encounter that takes groups to the heart of the action, gives them unprecedented backstage access, teaches them a new skill, or even helps them create something special to take home. Experiences range from arts and culture, sports, and culi- nary, to gardens, history, kids’ activi- ties, and more. Columbus is a fantastic destination
for meeting planners and visitors alike, offering the best in connectivity between
meeting facilities, hotels, and arts and entertainment districts. With the city’s renewed commitment to the visitor industry as it moves into its 2012 bicentennial and beyond, Columbus is well positioned to service its growing base of annual business, and is quickly emerging as a destination of choice for many national trade shows, conventions, business meetings, and leisure tour groups.
CITY & CONVENTION CENTER HIGHLIGHTS Columbus was ranked the second-most affordable U.S. destination in which to hold a meeting, convention, or trade show by Tradeshow Week.
Columbus has 13 downtown hotels with a total of 3,256 rooms. The 532-room Hilton Columbus Downtown is slated to open in 2012.
Six hotels with 1,552 rooms are adjacent and/or connected to the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
Battelle Grand opened in the Greater Columbus Convention Center in January 2010. It is the largest multipurpose ballroom in Ohio, with 74,000 square feet of space.
Convention-center services and amenities include unlimited floor capacity, high- speed Internet packages, a banquet kitchen, food court, and shopping.
More than $150 million has been spent on hotels and meeting-space renovations at downtown properties in the last two years.
Currently under construction, the 532-room Hilton Columbus Downtown is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2012. It will have 48 suites and 22,800 square feet of meeting space.