Plus, AC offers an abundance of outdoor activities that include the beach, water sports, the boardwalk, golf, and more.
"Meet AC was formed in 2014 as a result of local stakeholder vision lead by the Casino Redevelopment Development Authority and an independent board, and that is to have a laser focus agency (Meet AC) that goes out and is aggressively growing the meeting and convention mar- ket for Atlantic City," noted Wood. "The vision is concrete because we are seeing major investments into the development of additional meeting space, such as at both Harrah’s and Resorts International adding conference centers."
"Atlantic City is continually looking for new ways to diversify its mix of non-gam- ing business, and by growing the meeting and convention segment it will do just that," he added.
Atlantic City’s historic Boardwalk Hall plays host to a number of special events, concerts and performances each year. This venue can accommodate 15,000 people and acts as
a showplace for some of the city’s biggest events. photo courtesy of Meet AC
Harrah’s Atlantic City
The meetings industry in Atlantic City is about to get even more enticing with the addition of the new Harrah’s Waterfront Conference Center in late summer 2015. The total sellable event and meeting space for this facility will be 100,000-square feet, with two ballrooms each totaling 50,000-square feet, making it the largest meeting space of any hotel from Baltimore to Boston. The final cost of the new conference center is estimated at $125.8 million.
The new facility will, for the first time in Atlantic City, allow for a meeting for 2,000 to 3,000 people under one roof, where all attendees can enjoy an overnight stay in the same hotel as their meeting. According to Michael Massari, senior vice president of national meetings and events for Caesars, the building of this new conference center has opened eyes for people who had not before considered Atlantic City for their meetings.
Due to the lack of a major nearby airport, Caesars Entertainment, Harrah’s parent company, says it will even shuttle or limo groups who book with them from and to the Philadelphia International Airport if such an incentive is desired by the customer. Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City also is willing to block off the entire resort to its meeting groups, as they seek to use the hotel inventory primarily for their convention and conference guests.
So far, 60 bookings have been reserved at the new venue through 2019, with October 2015, April 2016 and October 2016 being the most booked months. Most of these bookings are with organizations and businesses that are nationwide companies headquartered in the Northeastern United States.
Typically at Harrah's Atlantic City, for an upcoming August-to-August time period, the resort would have from 2,000 to 4,000 definite room nights booked. However, for the upcoming August-to-August time frame there are 66,000 room nights already booked and that number is rising.
The new conference center will have more linear feet of air wall than any other facility in the world at 1,500 pounds apiece, allowing for up to 60 breakouts in total. The air wall panels will add a great deal of flexibility to the new conference space since they allow for the ability to transition from large to small group breakouts.
Caesars projects the long range market for bookings in AC to be somewhere around 60 percent corporate, 30 percent association, and 10 percent trade show.
Mid-Atlantic EVENTS Magazine 39
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