Smart Meetings

What's Your Flavor?

Author: Macie Schreibman
April 2009

Features

Spice Up Your Meeting In The Southwest  

Sponsored by Metropolitan Tucson CVB             

Whether you like it spicy, medium or mild (and we’re talking about your meeting, of course)—look no further than the Southwest. With awe-inspiring natural wonders, an abundance of outdoor recreation possibilities and sunny weather, the Southwest delivers. Plus, it provides easy access for both regional and national meetings, with a network of intersecting highways and conveniently situated airports.  

The Southwest is also where people got their kicks (ahem…on Route 66), and where visitors are continually stunned by a visual palette that provides a great backdrop for meetings, giving attendees a true sense of place.
Typically defined by parts, or all, of five states—Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah—it’s a region that sometimes comes with a lot of stereotypes.

“I think there is a [misunderstanding] about the Southwest,” says Heather Herman, PR manager for the Sedona Chamber of Commerce in Arizona. “People are curious and wonder if we still ride horses and if there are cowboys everywhere.”

Well, they’re almost everywhere, but there are plenty of other attractions as well, running the gamut from wild rivers, scenic deserts and geological artifacts to a unique culture that blends elements of Native American, Latino and Western cultures. So, set aside any preconceived notions you may have and let the Southwest surprise you.



THE SOUTHWEST ROCKS!
Having recently celebrated its 90th birthday, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona needs little introduction. The Grand Canyon—a twisting, 1-mile-deep, 277-mile-long gorge—welcomes more than four million visitors each year. The canyon was formed by geological activity and erosion from the Colorado River millions of years ago, and hasn’t stopped amazing onlookers since its discovery.

Groups can take tours of either side of the canyon, which is split into the North and South Rims, although the South is more popular and where you’ll find most visitors. Depending on how adventurous your attendees are, hiking and mule rides down to the canyon floor are an option, although they do need to be booked at least six months out. If you choose mule rides, groups of about 10 can participate; several trips incorporate float tours on the Colorado River, stops to view the vast canyon from plateaus and crossing over a suspension bridge atop your sure-footed mount. (Also, be sure to check that no one has a fear of heights.) For those who would rather stay off of four-legged animals, Jeep tours are available, as well as Grand Canyon Railway excursions that leave from Williams, approximately 90 miles away.

Major meetings properties can be found in Flagstaff and Sedona, about 80–100 miles from the South Rim, which is a terrific pre- or post-meeting trip. In Flagstaff, the Little America Hotel offers seven meeting rooms that range in size from 225 sq. ft. to the 5,988-square-foot American Ballroom. The property sits on a 500-acre private forest, making its landscape awe-inspiring.



In Sedona, the Hilton Sedona Resort is two hours from the Grand Canyon, with more than 16,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and 219 guest rooms. Two covered outdoor patios are ideal for events (thanks to Sedona’s wonderful weather). Guest rooms feature views of the area’s famous red rock formations, each named after objects they resemble, including Coffepot, Cathedral and Bell.

“I think the weather [in Sedona] is the number one thing,” says Heather Herman from Sedona’s Chamber. “It’s pleasant year-round with more than 320 days of sunshine. It’s very appealing for groups being able to do outdoor activities.”

Favorite off-site activities in Sedona are local Jeep tours of the red rocks or the Grand Canyon, she says. “Terra Trax Team Building Adventures is also highly popular for groups. They customize team-building activities with corporate rescues, company Survivor games, scavenger hunts and rock climbing.”  



Sedona’s meetings hotels include Enchantment Resort, with 12,000 sq. ft. of indoor meeting space and 8,000 sq. ft. of outdoor space. The property is also adding another 7,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and is home to the Mii amo spa, which features day packages (if you can squeeze them in) as well as specialized red rock treatments, among others. L’Auberge de Sedona Resort is expanding their property as well, adding hillside cottages. The resort currently has 56 guest rooms and 3,500 sq. ft. of meeting space for up to 220 attendees.

In Utah, striking rock formations also abound. Arches National Park, located on the east side of the state and five miles outside the city of Moab, showcases more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches. The park offers everything from hiking and guided group tours to sunset bus rides.

In Moab, through the Moab Adventure Center, your group can saddle up in true Southwestern style for an authentic horseback ride through the same trails John Wayne traveled on screen (if you’re a movie buff, they may look familiar). Riding horseback through a canyon with 2,000-foot-high cliffs is an experience your attendees won’t want to miss!



Because of the park’s location near Utah’s eastern border, groups can also meet in Colorado, less than a two-hour drive away. Grand Junction’s Two Rivers Convention Center is conveniently located between Denver and Salt Lake, and offers more than 22,920 sq. ft. of meeting space for up to 2,000 attendees. Close by is the Doubletree Hotel Grand Junction with 273 guest rooms and 12,700 sq. ft. of meeting space, including a 5,000-square-foot ballroom.

WIDE OPEN SPACES
When you visit the Southwest, outdoor activities are a must, from river rafting and desert adventures to hiking through dense, green forests.

The Colorado River is the primary river in the American Southwest, and its waters run through most of the region, making rafting a big draw. For planners, nearby Western River Expeditions specializes in one- to seven-day rafting excursions, great for executive retreats; they have locations in Moab, Salt Lake City and Fredonia, Ariz. Customized trips are available, and depending on how many days you want to raft, up to 28 guests can be accommodated.

If you’d rather keep to dry land, consider Arizona’s Sonoran desert, which averages more than 300 days of sunshine per year and offers off-roading opportunities, rock climbing, canyon hikes, bird watching and scenic tours. Situated on an alluvial plain in the desert, Tucson is the state’s second largest city. Its convention center, in the heart of historic downtown, has a total of 205,000 sq. ft. of function space, which includes an outdoor courtyard. The center also has access to the Leo Rich Theatre and The Music Hall, both equipped with large stages and A/V support.



The Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau is an excellent resource for information on the hotels and attractions in the area. And if golf is what your attendees want, Tucson’s got it, at courses like the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort. In addition, the sprawling resort provides planners with 428 guest rooms and 100,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event space.  

In Wickenburg, about an hour northwest of Phoenix, Rancho de los Caballeros is also known for its 18 holes of golf designed by Hardin & Nash. The 20,000-acre ranch is home to 100 horses and features many outdoor and team-building activities for groups. Meeting venues include a 4,500-square-foot conference center, and with only 79 casitas, it’s possible to do a buyout of the entire ranch.

If you head northeast, you’ll find plenty of contrast in the aforementioned Flagstaff, where the summer heat seems to be missing in action and the stunning greenery of the city’s vast peaks and forests almost seems out of place. At the junction of two major interstates, it is also easily accessible by the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport.

The city is proof that the Southwest isn’t just deserts and cacti, as it is located in the world’s largest Ponderosa Pine forest, at the base of the sprawling San Francisco Peaks. For a truly unexpected option, take advantage of the snow that Flagstaff gets in winter, and host your group to a ski meeting with Southwestern flair at the Arizona Snowbowl, which has indoor meeting space for up to 300. The Snowbowl’s main meeting facility is the Hart Prairie Lodge, with a rustic indoor space that features log beams and wood siding, as well as an outdoor deck, making it comfortable for up to 500 attendees.


    
LIVING HISTORY
Route 66: the Mother Road, the Super Highway. Today, the famous route still connects Chicago with the West, as it did in 1926. Along it, you will find restaurants, hotels, small towns and plenty of charm. It passes through the plains of the Texas panhandle, onto the sandstone vistas of New Mexico, passes by the cacti and deserts in Arizona and finally heads to California, all the way to the Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica. It makes a fun, nostalgic day trip for groups meeting throughout the region.

On its journey west Route 66 passes through Santa Fe, the second oldest city founded by European colonists in the U.S. Here you can find the spirit of its Native American heritage and enjoy the old, mission-style churches that still stand today. The city, which will celebrate its 400th birthday in 2010, is a wonderful meetings-friendly option. The Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza is set amid a blend of Native American, Latino and Anglo cultures, and the classic hotel preserves elements of the 350-year-old Ortiz Hacienda, where it resides. The 158-room property has several meeting rooms, the largest at 3,390 sq. ft.

The Lodge at Santa Fe also showcases the city’s heritage with Navajo blanket-designed carpets in its 127 guest rooms, plus furniture that was custom-designed and handcrafted to reflect the hundreds of years of Anasazi history. The property has a total of 7,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, all equipped with modern-day high-speed Internet.  

Speaking of history, The Alamo in San Antonio is a revered Texas icon. It served as a home to missionaries and their Native American converts for more than 70 years before playing a major role in the Texas Revolution. You can plan to attend a reenactment of the famous battle, or just enjoy San Antonio’s gun-powdered history and unique meeting venues.  

Many hotels are located on the famous Riverwalk, a Euro-style downtown area with shops, restaurants, entertainment and hotels flanking its namesake river. The San Antonio Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center offers groups 600,000 sq. ft. of function space, including three ballrooms, 63 breakout rooms and a 2,500-seat theater. Another option is the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk, which showcases views of the city and the river below. The 507-room hotel features 12,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.



CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
Roswell, N.M. has long been a place of controversy, as the spot where aliens were said to have landed. It could be a massive government cover-up or an extraordinary sighting—but that doesn’t mean it’s not patently Southwest. Because of the possible alien encounter, the town of Roswell now holds an annual festival celebrating the city’s “celebrities,” which is sure to please your group’s sci-fi junkies and believers in the possibility of what’s “out there.”

While you won’t see E.T. roaming around, the town of Roswell has five museums that display everything from modern art to re-created alien spaceships; the UFO Museum and Research Center also offers group tours, so you are guaranteed entertainment. They’re a fun addendum to a meeting in Roswell, which has more than 1,100 guest rooms; most hotels are well-suited for small to mid-size groups.

Almost as strange is Four Corners, U.S.A., the only place in the United States where four states come together at one point, allowing a person to be in not just two, but four places at once (who says the feat’s impossible?). Here, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado converge for a rare experience. Although you cannot hold your meeting in all four states at once, the historic point is accessible from all of them.



Take New Mexico, for instance. In Albuquerque, groups can gather and get a taste of authentic Southwestern-style flavors with any number of team-building and off-site activities that include chili cook-offs (red and green), tours of the famous hot-air balloon museum and cultural music festivals.  

Marsha Short, vice president and meeting planner for Gas Machinery Research Council, held her 1,000-person annual meeting last October in Albuquerque. “We’d never actually returned to a city for this meeting,” she says. But because everyone loved Albuquerque so much the last time they went (four years ago), they decided to go back. “We set a record attendance both years,” she says.

The three-day meeting had many components, and Short took advantage of several properties due to the size of her group. “We had people scattered all over town, and nobody complained,” she says. “It’s such an easy town to get around in.”

Short also says that Albuquerque is her favorite destination. “It’s got that Southwest heritage throughout,” she says. “It’s like someone came in and did a theme city. There’s no place else like it.”



Albuquerque has many options for meetings, with the Albuquerque Convention Center for up to 6,000 attendees and several meetings hotels focused on smaller groups. But Linda Brown, vice president of convention sales and services for Albuquerque CVB, says the city’s airport is also one of their best assets, as it’s within 15 minutes of all the downtown meetings hotels. “It’s beautiful, and when you get off the plane you really know you are in New Mexico,” Brown says.

A major meetings hotel in the heart of downtown is the Doubletree Hotel Albuquerque, which is connected to the convention center via underground concourse. The property has 295 guest rooms and suites, and more than 9,700 sq. ft. of meeting space. The 261-room Embassy Suites Albuquerque Hotel & Spa, also located near the convention center, has several meeting rooms, the largest at 12,136 sq. ft.

Just seven minutes from the airport, Isleta Casino and Resort has its own convention center, making it a one-stop shop. It features more than 30,000 sq. ft. of flexible function space—all with state-of-the-art audiovisual services. The resort’s recently opened, contemporary-style hotel has 200 guest rooms, and offers on-site team-building options.

So, if you thought the Southwest only offered cattle herding and tumbleweeds, think again. With upscale meeting space, sunny skies, historic landmarks and convenient access points, you can put the Southwest at the top of your list and let it heat up your next event.