Blessed with some of the nation’s oldest heritage and most spellbinding landscapes, the Land of Enchantment may be one of the most relaxed and laid-back places on Earth, but it is never one to rest on its laurels when it comes to enhancing its group appeal. Uniquely different to start with, the cities and regional destinations of New Mexico are adding to their meetings magic—with intergalactic possibilities ahead.
Albuquerque
Last August, Forbes ranked this sun-kissed desert community 7th on its list of top engineering cities in the nation. Home to Sandia National Laboratories and several aviation firms, historic “Duke City” is also creating new opportunities on the meetings front.
As of March, the Albuquerque CVB had booked 48,000 room nights for fiscal 2014, exceeding its goal of 41,000 and doubling 2013’s total of 24,000. Accompanied by a rise in convention bookings, this positive growth owes much to the city’s investment of more than $300 million in its hospitality offerings—including the $22 million upgrade of the Albuquerque Convention Center, scheduled for completion later this year.
“We attract an incredibly wide variety of groups and would like to continue to attract this type of diversity, which mirrors the diversity in our city,” says Dale Lockett, president and CEO of the Albuquerque CVB (ACVB), also noting “the impressive value” that groups can expect in experiencing the city’s “beautiful setting, authentic culture, incredible cuisine and countless activities.”
Comprehensively listing events and happenings in the city and including a blog written by locals, ABQ365, billed as “the daily source for what to do,” is the bureau’s new marketing initiative aimed at attracting that wider, more diverse audience.
“With more and more people using social media and other online tools, target audiences are blending,” stated Tania Armenta, the bureau’s vice president of marketing, communications and tourism, in a recent interview with Albuquerque Business First. “The ACVB decided to expand its reach to target both visitors and residents.”
With plans underway to renovate the 4th Street Mall, adding bike lanes, sidewalks, and patio space in the heart of Route 66 in downtown Albuquerque, future enhancements include the addition of a pedestrian bridge that would easily connect visitors from downtown to the East Downtown neighborhood, which features several independent shopping and dining options.
In property news, Sandia Resort & Casino plans to finish an expansion in early 2015. The project includes the addition of the Green Reed Spa and Golf Pavilion, which will be available for events, and a four-story parking garage.
PageBreakSanta Fe
Ideally suited for both corporate and association meetings of up to 1,000 attendees, “The City Different” is enhancing its distinction as an urban destination seamlessly blended with core meeting and event assets for a compact citywide experience.
“Santa Fe offers a unique destination for midsize meetings,” says Randy Randall, a hospitality industry veteran who became the new executive director of the Santa Fe CVB in April. “Unlike many cities with a downtown meeting facility, no hotel is attached to our beautiful convention center. Instead, there are several blocks of historic streets and buildings that contain uniquely different hotels and distinctive restaurants and shops for conferees to walk through as they proceed to their meeting.”
Randall adds that Santa Fe’s incredible climate creates an ideal environment for outdoor meetings along the city’s 400-year-old streets.
Just last month, David Carr, with over a decade of experience on the Santa Fe hospitality scene, started as the bureau’s new director of sales. Hired by Randall, his focus includes working with the city’s hospitality industry to create new initiatives that make meeting in Santa Fe even more attractive.
New and enhanced hotels are also elevating Santa Fe’s high-altitude appeal.
Located adjacent to the landmark St. Francis Cathedral and incorporating two historic buildings, the Drury Plaza Hotel will be the first new hotel to debut in downtown Santa Fe in almost two decades. Scheduled to open this August, the 182-room property, rendered in authentic Territorial style, will be the city’s second-largest hotel. Offering 17,000 square feet of meeting space, including 7,000 square feet outside, the hotel will feature a restaurant from star Santa Fe chef John Rivera Sedlar.
In other news, the 35-room Hotel Santa Fe, The Hacienda and Spa added a four-season outdoor patio, with seating for 100 and standing room for up to 130 for events. Ideally suited for smaller corporate and incentive groups, the boutique Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi recently completed a full renovation of all 58 guest rooms, while La Posada de Santa Fe Resort is now part of the Starwood Luxury Collection.
PageBreakTaos
Typically attracting smaller gatherings such as industry associations, arts groups and family reunions, this fabled mountain escape 90 minutes north of Santa Fe has a captivating lineage that blends signature assets such as the Taos Pueblo, continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years, with its days as an art and hippie colony.
“What draws people to Taos is its transformative nature—visitors feel like they have left the country,” says Joanie Griffin, consultant and spokesperson for the Town of Taos. “Offering world-class arts, rich heritage, historic museums, great dining, endless views, outdoor activities and more, Taos provides groups with so much to do in addition to their meeting or event. It’s like nowhere else.”
Managing a collection of properties in New Mexico, Albuquerque-based Heritage Hotels & Resorts transformed the former Casa de las Chimeneas into the serene eight-room Palacio de Marquesa, available for buyouts and ideal for intimate social and business gatherings.
Northwestern New Mexico
As the primary group base for the state’s mesmerizing Four Corners Region, where New Mexico squares up with Utah, Arizona and Colorado, Farmington is surrounded by a dreamscape of outdoor attractions.
Local enchantments include the Bisti Badlands, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, San Juan River and Aztec Ruins National Monument, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Golfers also have the nation’s fourth-ranked public facility, Pinon Hills Golf Course.
Located 182 miles northwest of Albuquerque, this inviting city, with regional air service into Farmington Four Corners Regional Airport, is also ideal for day excursions to the Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and other Four Corners’ regional treasures.
Composed of a 1,200-seat auditorium, a lobby with concession areas, a kitchen and catering facilities, the Farmington Civic Center also offers a grand ballroom, fresh off a $1 million remodeling, with more than 7,900 square feet of meeting space configurable into separate meeting rooms.
Other local improvements include a recent renovation of the 125-room Courtyard by Marriott, featuring 4,000 square feet of grand ballroom and meeting room space.
“It is not a country of light on things,” once said iconic American painter Georgia O’Keeffe. “It is a country of things in light.”
Her words aptly describe the wider region surrounding Los Alamos, where enticing outdoor attractions for groups include the ancient cave dwellings of Bandelier National Monument, the Jemez Mountain Scenic Byway and, of course, O’Keeffe Country, inspiration for many of her timeless works. In downtown Los Alamos, meanwhile, the Bradbury Science Museum offers an unforgettable window into the ongoing atomic legacy of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
PageBreakSouthern New Mexico
Home to the communities of Las Cruces, Mesilla and Ruidoso, as well as meetings favorites such as the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino, southern New Mexico is a scenic, welcoming option for groups.
Cradled in the fertile Mesilla Valley between the majestic Organ Mountain Desert Peaks (just named a National Monument in May) and the Rio Grande, fast-growing Las Cruces is attracting increasing national attention as both a prime business and retirement destination. Offering more than 3,000 hotel rooms and 128,000 square feet of meeting space, this sunny, compact city, conveniently accessed at the intersection of interstates 10 and 25, is also well equipped for small to midsize gatherings of 10 to 1,400 attendees.
There are plans to build a hotel adjacent to the LEED-certified Las Cruces Convention Center, which offers just over 30,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 14,500-square-foot exhibition hall and 9,000-square-foot ballroom.
The biggest news for Las Cruces, however—in fact, for the entire planet—is happening some 45 miles away in the southern New Mexico desert, where Spaceport America (see “Gateway to the Future” sidebar, page w10) is home of the space tourism program being spearheaded by Virgin Galactic.
Needless to say, anticipation in Las Cruces, as the closest visitor base to the Spaceport, is sky high.
“Traditionally drawing groups just from within New Mexico, we are on the cusp of becoming a global destination,” says Chris Faivre, director of marketing and communications for the Las Cruces CVB. “You could say that we have a shifting market ahead.”
If New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment today, what will they call it tomorrow? The possibilities are out of this world.
Just a tad shy of being able to book a seat on Virgin Galactic, longtime Meetings Focus contributor Jeff Heilman is seeking other ways to be the first journalist in space.
