Hartford Business Journal

18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | March 14, 2022 As events industry preps for rebound, Hartford venues to face increased competition By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com A fter dealing with the pandemic for two years, Connecticut's events industry is preparing for a rebound. And Hartford area venues are going to see stiffer competition in the year ahead. At least two new major venues are scheduled to debut over the next 12 to 15 months that will compete for small, midsize and large- scale events. Foxwoods announced in February it's transforming its old bingo hall into the Rainmaker Expo Center, a 75,000-square-foot event space that will be able to host everything from trade shows to sporting events. The new facility will be Foxwoods' largest event space and offer higher ceilings to compete for new types of programs. The goal is to draw more business to the southeast part of the state. Meantime, work is ongoing on the $25 million Bristol Event Center that aims to be a destination for conferences and weddings. Both venues will intensify competition for the city of Hartford, which has long relied on the Connecticut Convention Center, XL Center and other smaller properties to draw people into the city. Casino competition Foxwoods CEO Jason Guyot said his casino is increasing its conference space because it believes people will look more regionally for events and conventions following the pandemic. Guyot said Foxwoods has been trying to navigate through COVID-19 as safely as possible, though new variants have disrupted plans over the past few months. Before the delta and omicron variants, Guyot said his staff "couldn't even pick up the phone," they were getting so many calls for event bookings. He said Foxwoods is bullish on the live event industry as a whole and it hopes the Rainmaker Expo Center is open by fall. The casino already has 175,000 square feet of meeting space, so the Rainmaker venue will increase that while offering something new. Much of the casino's current conference offerings are meeting rooms and large ballroom-style spaces. The new venue will have higher, stadium-like ceilings that offer more flexible space, in addition to an attached outdoor patio, Guyot said. "We can hold everything from sporting events (including basketball, lacrosse and soccer), trade shows, large dinner events, you name it," Guyot said. "It's really up to whoever comes in and how they want to set up the space. I think it's a good complement to what we already have." As part of its expansion, Foxwoods is also adding an indoor water park and a new, expanded bingo hall. It's that diverse array of offerings all on one property that gives Foxwoods a competitive edge in attracting events, including from Hartford venues, Guyot said. "We have everything under one roof – you can go out to dinner, go see a show, go out to the spa, go to an indoor water park," Guyot said. "It makes it more of an easy decision for clients because the people they'll bring will have so many options." Hartford perspective Connecticut Convention Center General Manager Mike Costelli didn't mince words when asked about how the pandemic has affected his facility. "We had a lot of business on our books that was canceled – some of it moved forward and we'll see it over the next few months, but the majority of it was either canceled or postponed from anywhere from a year to two years," Costelli said. Costelli said the corporate events and convention market dried up during the pandemic. Multi-day corporate meetings, banquets and awards dinners still aren't being hosted in-person right now, which accounts for some of the convention center's business. Many large employers like Traveler Cos. have allowed their employees to work remotely, lessening the need for in-person events, which he called the convention center's "bread and butter." "That's where we've seen a tremendous decline," Costelli said. Mike Costelli Foxwoods CEO Jason Guyot said his casino is increasing its conference space because it believes people will look more regionally for events and conventions following the pandemic. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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