Paul Peterson, public information officer for the Phoenix Convention Center, enthuses, “People want to come to Phoenix. Our weather’s great. Our city’s great. But we just didn’t have the size for a lot of groups. Right now we’re about 68th in North America in terms of size and after the expansion is completed, we’re going to go to about 20th. We’ll be able to accommodate for about 85 percent of the convention business.”

Marking the end of Phase I of construction for the Phoenix Convention Center, the West building opened in July 2006. The 300,000-square-foot phase contains $3.2 million worth of public art, state-of-the-art technological infrastructure, and an exhibition hall with 10-foot squares scored neatly into the floor for efficient booth set-up. The lobby boasts a stunning 90-foot glass, stone and steel atrium built to resemble the slot canyons of northern Arizona. Intended to infuse visitors with a sense of their geographical surroundings, unique design elements echoing the desert environment flow throughout the building. Peterson adds, “The idea behind that is so many people go to convention centers and they feel like they are in a box. They could be anywhere. They could be in Michigan or Vegas for that matter. Here they really wanted to give people a taste of Arizona.”

Attention to detail and increase in rentable space has paid off in the form of future bookings. Some groups have already booked their conventions, meetings, exhibitions and tradeshows through 2025. People are also booking space in the unfinished North building, slated for its first guests in January 2009.

Currently, the Phoenix Convention Center hosts about 135,000 convention visitors per year. This number is expected to increase to about 375,000 by 2013. “The expanded convention center will be one of the largest economic engines for downtown Phoenix and a catalyst in the revitalization of the city’s central core,” says Jay Green, director of the Phoenix Convention Center. “This increase will not only give a significant boost to the local and state economies, but will support the viability of many downtown private sector businesses.”

While the Phoenix Convention Center will help bring businesses to downtown, the ideal is that the downtown area should simultaneously help bring businesses to the Phoenix Convention Center. Coincidentally, the downtown area is concurrently undergoing a major overhaul of its own. The Valley Metro Light Rail will be finished late 2008, thereby providing convention-goers with easy access to key areas in the Valley. Cityscape, a $900 million private project being developed in the Copper Square area of downtown Phoenix, completes Phase I in 2009. After its full completion in 2011, this multi-use project will span three linear blocks and include residential, hotel, retail, food and entertainment venues. Arizona State University is currently constructing a downtown campus built to eventually serve approximately 15,000 students. Add a handful of new hotels and residential high-rises to the mix, and life in downtown Phoenix becomes the bustling urban center it should be.

By virtue of a giant ripple effect, the state ultimately gains as well. Green explains, “Convention business boosts the economy of the entire state. Convention delegates are the highest-spending tourists we can attract to Arizona and surveys show that one-quarter of convention attendees stay additional days before or after the convention, with one-third traveling outside metro Phoenix to explore other parts of Arizona during their stay. Even better, 79 percent of out-of-state delegates say they will come back to Arizona for leisure, and will bring their families. We are planting a seed for future tourism in our state.”

Calculating the long-term economic impact, the Phoenix Convention Center anticipates approximately $500 million in annual direct spending in Arizona by convention delegates beginning in year 2013. Clearly, the expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center is an investment in the future of Arizona.

www.phoenixconventioncenter.com