C O N V E N T I O N C E N T E R S A N D D M O S T H AT B O T H E X C E L A N D I M P R O V E
2019
FACILITIES & DESTINATIONS
C
ongratulations to this year’s Awards of Excellence winners, including 89 Prime Site Award-winning convention centers and 51 Top Destination Award-winning DMOs across the United States, Caribbean and Canada. The recognition means that, from a client perspective, these venues and organizations are standouts in the highly competitive meetings market.
AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE
Each year, F&D readers make nominations for the Awards of Excellence based on numerous key criteria, such as convenient air accessibility, a state-of-the-art convention center, a diverse and convenient hotel package, and a CVB versed in group service. All of our Top Destination Award winners are enjoying healthy visitation numbers, including group business, and some are even celebrating record-setting numbers for 2018. Examples include Meet AC and Destination DC; see pages 4 and 6, respectively, for details on their achievements and tourism goals for the future. A forwardthinking attitude also characterizes our Prime Site Award winners, who consistently seek to enhance their facilities. A few examples:
• The Atlantic City Convention Center is
undergoing a $9.1 million restroom renovation (see page 10).
• The Austin City Council has approved a resolution that includes a $1.2 billion plan to expand the Austin Convention Center (see page 10). • Visit Baltimore and the Maryland Stadium Authority are pursuing a major exhibit space expansion for the Baltimore Convention Center, as well as a new headquarters hotel (see the cover story on page 28). • The Las Vegas Convention
Center is in the midst of a $935 million expansion. Separately, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority recently approved the development of a new people mover servicing the convention center (see the Las Vegas feature on page 46).
• The Orange County Convention Center has embarked on a $605 million campus improvement plan (see the Orlando feature on page 52). Ballots for the Awards of Excellence are available in F&D’s quarterly print magazine, biannual digital magazine and at Facilitiesonline.com. The Prime Site Award is given out to convention centers, and the Top Destination Award to CVBs and other DMOs. We look forward to recognizing more cities and facilities that both excel and improve. Submit your nominees for the 2020 Awards of Excellence today (ballot page 94). Continued on page 38
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FACILITIES & DESTINATIONS 2019 SUPERBOOK
