8 Hartford Business Journal • June 3, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com
By Gregory Seay
gseay@hartfordbusiness.com
H
artford's convention
business got a boost
last month when sev-
eral hundred visitors
from the U.S., Europe
and the South Pacific descended on
the Capital City for an International
Space Trade Summit.
It's precisely the type of smaller event
the city needs to focus on attracting,
convention and other officials say, espe-
cially as competition for larger gather-
ings heats up across the region.
"Sometimes we want the huge
events,'' said Robert Murdock, presi-
dent of the Connecticut Convention
& Sports Bureau in Hartford. "But the
smaller events bring influencers to
Hartford and they can spread word-of-
mouth to other peer groups.''
While more high-attendance con-
ventions, meetings and events locally
are the ultimate aim, they are becom-
ing increasingly harder to attract.
In the last year, Hartford lost two
major annual conventions — the
auto and boat shows, each drawing
tens of thousands of mainly regional
visitors — to Mohegan Sun casino,
which debuted last year an $80-million,
250,000-square-foot convention center.
Springfield's MGM Casino also de-
buted a new convention facility in 2018.
That added competition, along with the
recent loss of shows, is part of the reason
the Capital Region Development Author-
ity has hired an outside consultant to ex-
amine the 14-year-old Connecticut Con-
vention Center's
future, including
how it can capture
new business and
retain existing
shows.
Despite the
competitive
threats, Hartford
has still been able
to hold its own.
Overall, Hart-
ford hosted more
citywide conven-
tions in fiscal
2018 compared to a year earlier, which
contributed to an overall increase of
Market Shift
Smaller events remake Hartford's
convention calendar
Ex-astronaut Dan Burbank (left), of Tolland, moderated a forum at the International Space Trade Summit that drew 245 people to downtown Hartford earlier in May. (Right)
Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney moderated a panel of space-agency officers, including Acting NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Melanie Saunders.
Robert Murdock,
President,
Connecticut
Convention &
Sports Bureau
PHOTOS
|
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