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The list, even though one-company specific, shows the meetings and conventions industry is coming out of recession as the broader economy improves. Cities with airports near city centers are doing a lot better.
As the country comes out of recession, the meetings, conventions, and events industry is breathing a sigh of relief: The last year has been a lot better than the previous few years. Optimistic lists of the top meeting destinations in the U.S. are making the rounds once again, including a new one from event ticketing and management tech company Cvent, which builds on its list from last year.
Tracking activity from 5,700 U.S. cities from Cvent’s service across June 2012 to June 2013, the company has come up with a list of top 50 cities. And there is a lot of movement in the list, due to the competitive nature of cities bidding for these events. Most interesting is a trend among smaller cities that have moved up in the ranking this year is their close proximity to a major airport.
Orlando and Las Vegas held their positions in first and third compared to last year’s list, while Chicago jumped to second place and Atlanta and San Diego advanced into the top five. New York, which just missed the top ten last year at number eleven, moved up to number six this year.
New cities on the list include National Harbor, MD; Tucson, AZ; Coronado, CA and Salt Lake City, UT, which displaces Henderson, NV; as well as Boca Raton, Jacksonville and Naples, FL.
The Top 20 Cities
| Meeting Destination | Change from Last Year | Total Number of Hotels | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando, FL | 0 | 245 |
| 2 | Chicago, IL | 3 | 125 |
| 3 | Las Vegas, NV | 0 | 168 |
| 4 | Atlanta, GA | 4 | 167 |
| 5 | San Diego, CA | 1 | 188 |
| 6 | New York, NY | 5 | 336 |
| 7 | Washington, DC | -5 | 115 |
| 8 | Dallas, TX | 1 | 141 |
| 9 | Miami, FL | -5 | 100 |
| 10 | Phoenix, AZ | -3 | 133 |
| 11 | San Francisco, CA | 5 | 171 |
| 12 | New Orleans, LA | -2 | 114 |
| 13 | Denver, CO | 2 | 95 |
| 14 | Nashville, TN | 0 | 118 |
| 15 | Scottsdale, AZ | -3 | 76 |
| 16 | San Antonio, TX | -3 | 262 |
| 17 | Los Angeles, CA | 0 | 107 |
| 18 | Boston, MA | 0 | 73 |
| 19 | Houston, TX | 2 | 328 |
| 20 | Austin, TX | 4 | 150 |
More details here.
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Tags: cvent, meetings and events
Photo credit: Las Vegas is still among the top 3 meetings destinations in the U.S. David Prager / Flickr