News Release
Anchorage Convention Center Expansion Receives First Booking
Anchorage, Alaska – June 1, 2005 – Gound hasn’t even been broken on Anchorage’s new, expanded civic and convention center, but it’s already received its first booking. The Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) has booked its 2011 annual convention in Anchorage.
The national conference, which is the annual scientific meeting for professionals working in the fields of aviation, space and environmental medicine, is expected to bring 1,600 delegates to Anchorage, May 7 – 13, 2011 with an Estimated Economic Impact of $1,343,248. It will be the second time that Anchorage has hosted the national convention. AsMA met in Anchorage in May 2004. Attendees to the annual convention include clinical health directors, physicians, scientists, nurses from the armed services, civil and military aviators, as well as private practitioners who work to determine and maintain the health, safety and performance of people involved in air and space travel. AsMA met in Kansas City this year, and will travel to Orlando, New Orleans, Boston and Los Angeles before returning to Anchorage in 2011.
“Our 2004 meeting in Anchorage was very successful, not just because of the location but because of the great service we received from the hotels and everyone involved” said AsMA Executive Director Russell Rayman, M.D. “We had some of our highest attendance ever, and those coming internationally really appreciate the Alaska location which is central for everyone.”
AsMA is a good example of how the new convention facilities will make it easier and more convenient to host larger groups, allowing for better flow and consistency during bigger conventions. Instead of holding meetings across five hotels spread throughout downtown, the group will be able to centralize its activities in the new convention facilities on Seventh Avenue and/or move back and forth between the expanded facilities and existing space at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts and William A. Egan Civic & Conventioner Center. The Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) also still has the ability to book other groups at the same time AsMA will be in Anchorage in 2011.
Even though the expanded convention facilities are a few years away, the ACVB is already starting to market the expansion. Collateral materials have been created, presentations have been updated and ACVB’s sales staff list of potential clients has been widely expanded.
“We’re going back through out records and seeing what groups have wanted to come to Anchorage in the past, but didn’t book because of limited facilities or a lack of trade show and exhibit hall space,” said Bruce Bustamante, ACVB President and CEO. “Then, we also have a whole new pool of potential clients, who hold meetings for 1,500 to 5,000 delegates, to whom we can now start marketing.”
Anchorage will especially tout its future civic and convention center facilities at sales blitzes this summer in Chicago (May 23 – 27, 2005), Washington, D.C. (June 20 – 24, 2005), New York (June 27 – 30, 2005), Denver (July – date to be determined) and Juneau (July 27 – 28, 2005). ACVB also will be showcasing expanded convention facilities at Springtime in Washington, D.C. this week. Springtime, sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives, is one of the largest industry tradeshows in the country. It features destinations, hotels and other businesses in the travel industry, attracting more than 2,000 meeting planners and decision makers.
In April, Anchorage voters approved an increase in the hotel/motel bed tax from 8 to 12 percent to pay for a $93 million expansion to convention facilities. The expanded civic and convention center complex will link existing facilities at the Egan Center and the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts to a 190,000-square-foot addition that includes a 50-thousand-square-foot exhibit hall, a ballroom and meeting rooms. Special purpose revenue bonds will be sold on the open market to pay back the bonds and will be used for operations and maintenance of an expanded civic and convention center complex.
The Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau’s mission is to attract and serve visitors to the Municipality of Anchorage. ACVB’s marketing functions are funded by half of the bed tax collected by the lodging association. The other half goes to the Municipality’s general fund. ACVB receives no state or federal funds. For more information, explore www.Anchorage.net.
Media Contacts:
Erika Siegel
Public Relations Manager
toll free: (800) 446-5352 x 331
direct: (907) 257-2331
esiegel@anchorage.net
Nance Larsen, APR
Director of Communications
toll free: (800) 446-5352 x 310
direct: (907) 257-2310
nlarsen@anchorage.net
