Dear Editor:
Mr. Riley raised some good points in his letter in the News Tribune on Dec. 26. I would like to respond to his questions.
Currently, Jefferson City lacks the space needed to bring in larger conferences and conventions. Over the last 10 years, convention planners have found that convention cost can be offset by booth fees paid by exhibitors. Unfortunately, our current meeting space will not accommodate trade shows, meetings and meals concurrently for larger groups. Therefore, these groups hold their meetings in other communities.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau sales staff does not spend time contacting groups that need more space than available. Consequently, we do not have any firm commitments from any of these groups. However, it stands to reason that Jefferson City would have more opportunity to bid on the larger convention with exhibits if we had the convention space available.
Jefferson City would be able to compete with a host of comparable communities. Some of the reasons a meeting planner would choose Jefferson City (if we had the space) are that we are centrally located and value priced. We also have the Missouri State Penitentiary Tours that most recently have encouraged groups like the Missouri Treasurers Association to choose Jefferson City.
Until the facility is built, it is impossible to predict the occupancy rate and the groups that will choose to come to the new conference center. Size will matter and so will the versatility of the layout of the facility. There will be much interest by associations, government and corporate meeting planners in the new space. For groups needing large, open meeting space, we will have the opportunity to target: quilt shows, coin shows, gun shows, etc., and events such as chess tournaments and car shows, boat shows, and home shows depending on the final design and layout . The opportunities are truly unlimited.
It will take lots of hard work to encourage meeting planners to come to Jefferson City. While we cannot simply stand by and see if meeting planners will come to Jefferson City, we must show them our commitment to hospitality and friendliness to promote tourism in Jefferson City.
One thing we know for sure: Without the conference center, Jefferson City will not have the opportunity to bid on, or promote, larger conferences and conventions. Yes, the future is rosy and we are up to the challenge.