A few years ago, leaders at the Georgia International Convention Center near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport were quite content when they snagged local meetings and tradeshows from businesses in the North Georgia.
But metro Atlanta's second largest convention facility is ready to spread its wings and go after bigger targets now that it is more easily accessible from the airport via the new ATL SkyTrain. It also has added its first convention hotels, a 403-room Marriott hotel scheduled to open next month and a 147-room SpringHill Suites already in operation.
Hugh Austin, executive director of the GICC, said the facility's client base will now stretch beyond metro Atlanta, throughout the region and even the borders of the United States.
"We have marketing plans ... for an international market," said Austin. "We anticipate we will be able to look at a much broader scale of business with these hotels and the SkyTrain connection."
The upbeat outlook comes at a time when competition is growing exponentially in the convention center business. Across the nation, cities are expanding their facilities, hoping to attract business away from the monster centers like the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, McCormick Place in Chicago and the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta.
The GICC has 150,000 square feet of exhibit space and, officials say, Georgia’s largest ballroom at 40,000 square feet. It's a quarter-mile from Hartsfield at the intersection of Camp Creek Parkway and Roosevelt Highway in College Park and about 10 minutes from downtown Atlanta. It's part of the Gateway Center complex, which also includes office space.
Future phases of the complex include another hotel, more office buildings and a possible expansion of the GICC on nine acres on the facility's west end, but only if warranted by growth in south metro.
"Demand would certainly be the No.1 priority," Austin said of expansion possibility.
To compete in today's meetings business, a convention center has to find a way to stand out in a crowd of facilities that can swiftly change to mirror any advantages its competitors take, said Mark Newton, program director of the hotel, restaurant and tourism management program at Gwinnett Tech.
"You have to be able to differentiate yourself," said Newton. "What sets the GICC apart is convenience. You don't have to deal with the hassles of going from the airport to downtown or wherever a convention center might be. It's right there."
Its proximity to the airport also makes it attractive to meetings for businesspeople who fly in on a morning flight and leave later that evening, he said.
"In that case, you don't even have to worry about getting a room," he said.
But for those who need a room, the addition of the Marriott and SpringHill properties ends one of the GICC's biggest disadvantages. Though there are more than 8,000 hotel rooms in the airport area, none were as easily accessible to the convention center as the two new lodges.
"With these hotels, we cut out the need for transportation that you might need with our competitors," Austin said.
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