Destination
Atlantic City
Atlantic City has plans to expand its famed Boardwalk
Home to a brand-new conference center, the resort city continues its winning streak in the meetings industry By George Seli
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ocated within easy driving distance of a third of the population of the United States, Atlantic City’s meetings infrastructure includes more than 15,000 hotel rooms, 800,000 sq. ft. of conference space and 500,000 sq. ft. of Convention Center exhibit space. As such, the city is a viable choice for many groups, including the New Jersey Apartment Association (NJAA), which has held its Conference & Expo in Atlantic City for the past 26 years, and recently rebooked for the next three years. While Atlantic City might be considered a natural site choice for this state association, the NJAA has members in several Northeast cities as well as Virginia and Texas, and other meeting sites have occasionally been proposed over the years, says Nichole F. LoPresti, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs & Special Events, NJAA. “We made a conscious decision as a New Jersey association that we wanted to make a long-term commitment to Atlantic City and help bolster its turnaround and development,” she explains. “We wanted to show that we’re just as committed as our state and local officials are in making sure that the dollars and cents stay in the state.” Several indicators show that the seaside resort city’s economic turnaround is indeed happening. While the media has made much of the city’s struggling gaming industry, recent reports show an upswing in that sector. According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the industry posted an $81.3 million operating profit across the city’s eight casinos for the first quarter of this year, which is a 109 percent increase compared to $38.8 million a year ago. Hotel occupancy is also on the rise, climbing 10
nearly three percentage points in the first quarter to 72.8 percent. And the meetings sector performed well: Meet AC’s sales team brought 30 conventions and meetings to the Atlantic City Convention Center and another 19 to the city’s hotel properties, an increase of more than 25 percent from the first quarter of 2014. The 49 events brought nearly 265,000 delegates to the city, a 38.3 percent increase over the same quarter in 2014. LoPresti speaks highly of the Meet AC team, led by James Wood, appointed CEO in April of 2014. Many new NJAA staff members coordinated the last Conference & Expo, and Meet AC helped acclimate them to the site. “I was kind of nervous thinking that half of our staff hasn’t actually been to our own show,” LoPresti recalls. “But the support we got from Meet AC and the folks at the Convention Center was phenomenal. They did everything they could do to help us make this a smooth and wonderful transition.” For example, Meet AC conducted a walkthrough of the Convention Center with NJAA staff and vendors servicing the event. “And they were more than James Wood, CEO of Meet AC happy to help me cut costs Facilities & Destinations 2015 Summer