By: Gary J. Groman, a.k.a. The Ole Seagull
According to the quarterly report received by the Branson Board of Aldermen at their Jan. 28 meeting, bookings for the Branson Convention Center are exceeding benchmark projections. While presenting the report, Mark Hartman, General Manager, Hiltons of Branson, reported, “In 2008 we are now at 198 event days.”
He continued, “This compares to the CS & L Study that was done prior to the convention center opening and their projection, for the convention center with a hotel attached, was to have 177 event days at stabilization.” The study being referred to was the “Feasibility Analysis of the Proposed Branson Downtown Exhibition and Convention Center Study” conducted by CSL International which was sent to the city of Branson in Feb. 2003. The study used the term “stabilized year” which, it says, is assumed to occur by the fifth year of operation.
Hartman said, “In 2007 we booked $4.8 million of revenue into the Branson Convention Center. That’s just food and beverage and meeting room rental. There’s additional revenue which pertains to parking, the laundry, show events, and decorating services that will add to that number.”
He went on to point out that although the $4.8 million figure represents business “booked” in 2007, it includes bookings in other years. He specifically noted that of the $4.8 million booked in 2007, that $2.5 million of that was for 2008 and that they have also “layered in revenues into 2009, 2010, 2111, and 2112.”
An analysis of the “Sales & Marketing” portion of the report presented indicates that in 2008, as of the end of Dec. 2007, there are 186 event days booked definitely, 81 tentatively and 25 prospects. Hartman pointed out that the difference between the 198 he cited earlier and the report is because 12 additional events have been booked between the closing date of the report, Dec. 31, 2007 and his presentation during the meeting.
In discussing the event days that are booked Hartman stressed that one of the big focuses of the sales team was to focus on multiyear events. The rational being, he said, “So that as we finished up a year we didn’t have to go back and resell that client.”
Alderman Stephen Marshall asked, “Of the business that has been booked, how much of it is new business that has never been to Branson before?” Harman replied, “I would guess about 60 percent.” Hartman also pointed out that there is convention business coming to Branson and going to other places beside the Branson Convention Center that were made aware of Branson as a potential convention site because of the publicity and advertising relating to the Branson Convention Center.
