The ultimate US meetings destination is in constant demand. Jonathan Hart reports on how to grab a bite of the Big Apple
JUST DO THE MATH, as they say in these parts. Indeed, buyers may need literally to “go figure” in order to mine the most economical meetings nuggets currently being proffered by New York.
Do the sums on venue value 104
and availability is a key message from NYC & Company, the city’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organisation incorporating convention and visitor bureau responsibility. Exchange rates notwithstanding, it urges UK purchasers to base their calculations for venue negotiations and placements on an exploratory and slot-critical equation balancing citywide developments, segment specifics, seasonal troughs and periodic promotions. “Planners have great opportunities to secure competitive rates and
find added value in leaner months, particularly in the first quarter of every year,” says NYC & Co vice-president Jerry Cito. “These lower rates can be teamed with events such as Restaurant Week, which offers fixed- priced menus, and Broadway Week or Off-Broadway Week, which offer two-for-one tickets to popular shows.” Cito also cites the association segment as worthy of closer investigation. “An event here guarantees record attendance,” he says. “Importantly, we are home to some key associations across various sectors, so there’s a lot of synergy in placing congresses or meetings in the city.” Fine, you might think, for buyers who are working with New York as an option, with plenty of flexibility or long lead-ins. But what about those for whom the city is mandated alongside cut-back corporate budgets
and the general industry trend to radically-clipped or sometimes virtually non-existent lead-in times? This global home to more than 40
Fortune 500 companies is, after all, host to a multiplicity of top-dollar corporate events, either locally or internationally sourced, and ranging from financials and pharmaceuticals to fashion and media. These events are typically held in long-established or elite Manhattan venues, notably in Midtown or the Financial District, which have traditionally captured the lion’s share of the regular meetings’ millions, in terms of both the numbers of annual delegates hosted and the accompanying dollars pumped into local coffers.
CITY WITH ATTITUDE At the same time, they have earned New York a reputation for giving swift short shrift to “nickel-and-dime” proposals. The dynamic marketing of transitory, ad hoc or weekend business aside, established suppliers, to date, have had little need to break sweat over year-round average occupancies, despite the city’s brutally cold winters and furnace-hot summers. The fact that the United Nations is based here alongside corporate kings merely underscores New York’s universally acknowledged predominance, together with its East