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COVID’s not something we talk much about anymore, but it’s always in the back of our minds,” says Chelsea Andujar, director of meetings and events for the Carolinas Association of General Contractors.
Four years ago, the hospitality sector was reeling from the devastating impacts of pandemic shutdowns, but many used the down time to make cosmetic improvements and infrastructure upgrades, and create opportunities for unique conference experiences.
While the pandemic is largely in the rearview mirror, a few stubborn challenges remain, including workforce shortages and inflation. Yet, planners and industry representatives report conference attendance is on the rise and business is bouncing back.
Carolinas AGC, a Charlotte-based trade association that represents construction and contractor firms in North and South Carolina, organizes over 100 meetings and conventions of all sizes each year, topping out with an annual summit that brings in as many as 800 attendees.
For Andujar, life and work are getting back to normal, and while staffing is still a concern, she recognizes that meeting facilities are striving to serve their clients.
“We have been happily surprised at how the properties have risen to the occasion,” she says. “During our first large summit after the pandemic, our largest dinner event was for over 500 people, and the hotel not only brought in all its staff but recruited their family members to help with banquet service and fill in the gaps.”
Andujar can relate to the staffing struggles. Her association’s members are dealing with the same challenges.
“We’ve had to put our patience hats on and understand we all have a workforce shortage,” she says.
Rich Phaneuf, CEO and executive director of Association Executives of North Carolina has been on both sides of the event management business. Today, he runs the state organization for business and trade associations and supports the organization’s hospitality partners. Prior to joining AENC, he was general manager of River Landing Companies in Wallace, overseeing a country club and a hotel, hosting 850 events a year and managing a workforce of 250 employees.
While the state’s hospitality workforce isn’t fully at peak, Phaneuf notes progress is being made.
“During the COVID era, we saw a lot of folks in the hospitality industry leaving to pursue other lines of work, and even though staffing is rebounding, we’re facing workforce issues today that we haven’t faced before,” he says.
The biggest challenges lie in hiring workers who are well-trained and paying them the wages they require and the flexibility they need, he adds.
AENC spent its 2024 summer convention at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in the North Carolina mountains, one of the largest resorts and casino operations in the state.
In 2021, the resort unveiled a multimillion-dollar expansion project, adding a new hotel tower and a 83,000 square-foot convention center. Today, the facility offers over 115,700 square feet of event space and 1,833 hotel rooms.
State association business has always been the resort’s bread and butter, says sales manager Stacy Pegg, who remembers when the facility was just a fraction of its current size.
“We built our convention center on association business,” she says. “For years, all we had was a 14,000-square-foot ballroom and a 16,000-square-foot event center. “The convention business started with the N.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, which was our first big association booking, and once they started coming, everybody started coming and it has been a great market for us.”
The resort’s sister property, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel in Murphy, is currently undergoing a $275 million expansion project expected to be completed this year.
The Harrah’s resorts are now approaching pre-pandemic levels and the future is bright, says Michelle Patterson director of sales for the portfolio division of Caesar’s Entertainment, which owns the Harrah’s resorts.
“Cherokee is trending higher over the next several years,” she says. “With the additional meeting space, the team there is putting more business on the books than the same time last year, and the next three years are shaping up to be the best we’ve ever had.”
In 2021, the Charlotte Convention Center opened the doors to its $126.9 million expansion project, which added 50,000 square feet of meeting room and pre-function space. The convention center today offers 600,000 square feet of total leasable space.
The investment is paying off for the 25-year-old convention center, according to the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which operates the facility. The CRVA’s annual report shows that in 2023, the convention center hosted 374 events with 413,000 attendees, including 42 conventions and trade shows, 19 consumer shows and 297 local events.
Charlotte is a strong draw for visitors, particularly those driving to the Queen City, says Sherri Belfield, senior public relations manager.
“The drive market still reigns supreme,” she says. “Nine in 10 visitors arrive in Charlotte by car, and we focus on a 400-mile radius targeting visitors coming for concerts, performances, festivals and sporting events.”
She adds that Charlotte ranks high among meeting planners as a convention destination.
“This points to the positive reputation Charlotte has among planners and conference-goers and how that perception continues to translate into bookings,” she said.
In Raleigh and across Wake County, business is also booming, says Dennis Edwards, president and CEO of Visit Raleigh, the capital city’s convention bureau.
“Leads for corporate meetings and conventions are up by 25% over last year, and bookings are up by 24%,” he says.
Edwards welcomes the scheduled $387.5 million expansion of the Raleigh Convention Center which he believes will be a boon to the city and a welcome addition for the meetings sector.
The expansion will add 300,000 square feet of meeting space to the convention center, bringing its total to 800,000. Edwards hopes this expansion will help recoup lost revenues due to the lack of capacity.
“Over a two-year period, the convention center’s limitations cost us 68 conventions, 181,000 hotel room nights and an economic impact of over $102 million, and that’s just the lost business we know about,” he says. “This expansion will give us the ability to go after larger conventions and meetings, and layer in more than one large conference at a time in the facility.”
Scheduled for completion in 2028, the expansion will include 80,000 square feet of flexible event space and 30 meeting rooms. It will also be the new home for the Red Hat Amphitheater, which is moving one block south from its current location to make room for a new Omni Hotel with 550 sleeping rooms.
The new hotel will join five other hotels opening in Raleigh within the next year which will provide hotel rooms needed to house conference attendees. Through last May, hotel occupancy in Raleigh and across Wake County was 69.8% compared to a state average of 60.9%.
Events like the recent U.S. Open Golf Championship in Pinehurst and World Championship of 7v7 Soccer in Cary last June caused many area hotels to sell out months ahead of the events.
And the state’s economic development efforts, leading to growth in major sectors like advanced manufacturing, technology and life sciences, also brings people to the area for work and for meetings and conferences, and expanded air service at the Raleigh Durham International Airport will offer convenient access for both leisure and corporate visitors.
“We now have 69 cities with nonstop service to RDU and 10 international destinations, so we check the ease-of-access box,” he says. “The airport is centrally located in the Triangle Region, convenient to many hotels and meeting facilities.”
Just two months after the U.S. Open Golf Championship, Phil Werz is still reflecting on the impact the event had on his small community in the Village of Pinehurst, and across Moore County.
Werz, president and CEO of the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area CVB, has been feeling the growing pains in an area that was largely one of North Carolina’s best kept secrets –until the USGA came to town.
Moore County, known for great golf, equestrian events, lush farmland, the peach industry and the arts is now an international shining star, thanks to golf.
Last year the U.S. Golf Association opened its USGA Experience and World Golf Hall of Fame on the USGA’s Golf House Pinehurst campus, and in 2029, both the men’s and women’s golf championships will return.
For years, the area, featuring the stately Pinehurst Resort has been a popular destination for meetings and conventions, but as golf has risen in stature, demand on the region’s few precious hotel rooms has eclipsed conference space.
“Pinehurst has become one of the best and most recognizable golf destinations in the world,” Werz says. “People still want to come here for conventions, but we only have 2,300 hotel rooms, and only the Pinehurst Resort can handle the larger meetings.”
With 14 hotels in the area, visitors often turn to county’s inventory of 750 short-term rentals when they travel to Moore County. Werz and the CVB’s hospitality partners are making every effort to add more space.
He believes a hike in the county’s occupancy tax will go a long way toward easing the strain. At 3%, it’s currently the lowest in the state.
Typically, occupancy taxes are charged to visitors spending the night in cities and counties across the state. The taxes are allocated to travel and tourism promotion and infrastructure growth and enhancements for visitors and residents alike.
At it’s June 24 regular meeting, the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area CVB voted to increase the occupancy tax from 3% to 6%.
“We are the 10th highest tourism economy in the state of North Carolina out of 100 counties,” Werz says. “All nine above us have a 6% occupancy tax.”
An amphitheater, luxury hotel, and additional conference facilities are on the CVB’s wish list to prepare for demand which is predicted to grow significantly over the next
five years.
Whether large or small, Phaneuf sees value in every conference destination.
“North Carolina has some of the greatest, coolest and most trendy venues I’ve ever seen and the most vibrant environments for conferences in the country,” he says. “We love to take our members to places like Charlotte and Raleigh, but we also love creating unique and different experiences for them in other places, like Cherokee and Pinehurst.”
After a few difficult pandemic years, Phaneuf says he has witnessed the strength and resilience of North Carolina’s hospitality sector.
“People continue to visit the state, corporations and municipalities continue to invest in their communities, and meetings are back,” he says.
And for Andujar and the Carolinas AGC, creating meaningful experiences is key to the success of any conference.
“Unique spaces for receptions and networking are always welcome,” she says. “During the day, we’re in the ballrooms and meeting rooms, and our members look forward to a change of scenery in the evening.”
Many hotels and meeting venues are answering the call and adding unique spaces, including rooftop cocktail bars, which is a trend these days.
Sometimes unique experiences come with a hefty price tag, especially as inflation continues to be an economic factor, but for Andujar, it hasn’t impacted her conferences.
“We are staying at the same places and offering the same quality of programming and our attendance is still holding strong,” she says. “We have had to increase our registration prices just to match what the hotels are charging, but we try to keep it reasonable.”
Despite the challenges, it’s business as usual, and for the Carolinas AGC, meetings are on
the rise.
“Twenty years ago, we only offered our annual convention and our division meetings,” she says. “Today, we’re bringing people together more than ever before.” ■
— Teri Saylor is a freelance writer from Raleigh.