This year promises to be one of intensified competition for Atlanta, particularly as a business and convention hub.  "The competition has never been keener," exhorts Spurgeon Richardson, president and CEO of the ACVB. "We compete every day against cities like Orlando or Chicago.  New Orleans is coming back, Dallas, Washington.  Then you've got Mickey Mouse and the beaches, their convention centers, their facilities.  We need to keep adding new product to keep us fresh and looking good."

The ACVB is watching bold moves by some of its longtime rivals, but also the emergence of cities often considered "secondary" convention destinations.  Such smaller cities are making sometimes vigorous moves to lure in new convention business, sometimes rendering themselves not so "secondary" at all.  On the ACVB's radar this year:

NASHVILLE: 
Newly elected Mayor Karl Dean along with a lean and newly aggressive leadership in the city's chamber of commerce are pushing hard to create a world class convention center in music city's downtown.  Nashville's housing agency MDHA is considering plans for a $445 million convention facility to be built on largely vacant land near the Sommet Center Arena.  The facility would offer 375,000 square feet of exhibit space and easy access to the Country Music Hall of Fame as well as the city's existing inventory of downtown hotels. 

ACVB VP Mark Vaughn ticks off a number of concerns, particularly Nashville's regional proximity.  "They're similar in size to New Orleans in terms of hotel inventory," he points out.  "That fits right in when people are looking for a Southeast or South centered location.  There are a lot of groups and trade shows out there that only require 3500 to 6000 rooms on a peak night.  So then Nashville becomes a very viable option."

INDIANAPOLIS:
In June, Marriott is scheduled to break ground on a $425 million convention center hotel complex immediately adjacent to the Indiana Convention Center, part of a dramatic reinvention of the city's major events portfolio.   In late summer the new Lucas Oil Stadium is expected to be completed on the site.  It will add 183,000 sq. ft of exhibit space and allow the demolition of the old RCA Dome, making way for a 564 million square foot expansion to the convention center itself.  The combined projects will deliver a total 747,000 square feet of exhibit space and 7,200 hotel rooms available in Indy's downtown, 4700 of which will be connected to the convention center via  skywalk.

DENVER:
Denver's new Ritz Carlton Hotel opened in January, close to the expanded Colorado Convention center, and a new Four Seasons is now under construction, two of eight hotel projects underway in the city's Downtown adding 1400 new rooms.  This follows the 2005 expansion of the convention center which doubled the size of the facility to 584,000 square feet of exhibit space.   With the addition of the 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center hotel in 2006, he city already touts 7400 rooms within "easy walking distance" of the convention center and 42,000 rooms citywide.

Here Vaughan sees a potent and emerging threat:  "Denver is a fantastic city.   It's very accessible, easy to get to from the east coast and the west coast.  It's becoming a very viable option.  We are running into them more and more every day.  People are throwing them into the mix."  

The city has also scored a political coup for its convention and hotel industry.  In August it will host the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

ORLANDO
In 2008 seven new hotel projects adjacent to the city's Orange County Convention Center represent major change in the city's hotel landscape and a specific challenge to the easy walking-distance access Atlanta offers for major events.  "In the years past," Vaughan notes, "they've been somewhat spread out and they've had to bus guests to the convention center.  Orlando's competitors, including Atlanta, have had an advantage there.  That's going to become not such an advantage any more.

"Convenience is the name of the game for a number of conventions," says Susan Greer of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.  "We've been working to create a convention corridor, to continue to expand our offerings right around the convention center."

The 1400 room Hilton Orlando now under construction will be adjacent to the Orange County center.  The Peabody Orlando is adding a new tower, 750 rooms, and a bridge direct to the convention center.  Across the street, the Westin Grand Imagine Hotel will add 470 suites as anchor in a mixed use complex, the first phase of which is due to open in the spring.  And late in the first quarter of 2008, another major name hotel is expected to announce a new hotel project comparable to the 1400 room Hilton.

CHICAGO
This perennial Atlanta challenger enters 2008 with a stronger hand still.  The McCormick Place convention center opened its newest expansion in August adding 460,000 square feet of additional exhibit space.  "With that expansion, that's going to allow them to host several groups simultaneously," Vaughan observes.  The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau also reports 3,000 new hotel rooms now under construction with still more starting in the next 12 months including a 550 room Marriott.  A 600 room Hyatt Regency is also being considered for construction at McCormick Place itself. 

With 101,000 hotel rooms already, to Atlanta's 92,000, the city remains a formidable leader only adding to its strengths and Vaughn gives it its due.  "Chicago's got tremendous destination appeal and accessibility.  Their downtown is very vibrant, walkable, user friendly and it's a great place to conduct business.  People enjoy going to Chicago."