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<\/a>James Borden \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/p>
Raleigh’s Convention Center is located across from the downtown Marriott<\/p><\/div>\n
The current 1,011 rooms are spread out among hotels in the downtown overlay district, which include the Raleigh Marriott City Center, the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, the Holiday Inn-Raleigh Downtown, the Hampton Inn & Suites and the Days Inn.<\/p>\n
The number of hotel rooms, or lack thereof, limits parties interested in the convention center and as a result limits business transient profit,said Loren Gold, an executive vice president of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.<\/p>\n
\u201c[There] are missed business opportunities due to our lack of downtown hotel inventory,\u201d Gold said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn most cases we are limited by the size of the state, regional or national association or corporate conferences, conventions and trade shows that we can pursue. Not because of the size of the convention center, but because of the lack of supporting rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lack of Rooms Not Always An Issue<\/strong><\/p>\n This lack of rooms, however, does not affect all companies that book at the convention center, such as the recent LEGO KidsFest.<\/p>\n The LEGO KidsFest hosted five sold-out sessions in February and March of 2014. The organizers partnered with the Raleigh Marriott City Center and ran into no issues booking sufficient rooms for attendees.<\/p>\n The Sheraton also had another large event at the time, said Tracey Weiss, a LEGO KidsFest public relations representative.<\/p>\n While many of those who attended the event were locals who didn\u2019t need hotel rooms, other conventions that attract a number of out-of-towners and business transient profit will be more likely to run into space issues.<\/p>\n Currently, the GRCVB can only pursue 20 percent of the convention market. This is based on current lodging inventory and convention center capacity. And it is a competitive market.<\/p>\n A feasibility study conducted in 2003 for the Raleigh Convention Center \u2014 which was built 5 years later \u2014 showed that cities of equal population and with similarly sized convention centers had average hotel room numbers between 1,500 and 2,000<\/p>\n Opportunity for Growth<\/strong><\/p>\n James Borden \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/p> The Sheraton is one of Raleigh’s premier downtown hotels<\/p><\/div>\n According to Gold, adding 500-1,000 hotel rooms downtown would allow the GRCVB\u2019s group sales team to strategically pursue 40 to 45 percent of the U.S. convention and trade show market.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had incredible success to date with our current downtown hotel product and convention center,\u201d Gold said. \u201cBut, our downtown convention business over time will remain flat without a sizable increase to our [hotel room] inventory.\u201d<\/p>\n Downtown Raleigh\u2019s vertical growth is no secret. It\u2019s also no accident. The Raleigh City Council\u2019s 2030 Comprehensive Plan includes specific elements that focus on growing Raleigh sustainably and moving away from sprawl-type development.<\/p>\n Hotels, transportation and other related infrastructure all contribute to Raleigh\u2019s success and functioning as a whole, according to City Councilor Russ Stephenson.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to develop Raleigh for all types of people,\u201d Stephenson said. \u201cIdeally, with larger [downtown hotel] capacity we can attract more conventions. The taxes on hotels help fund facilities such as the WakeMed Soccer Park and Marbles Kids Museum which in turn attract more visitors and benefit residents as well.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/sheraton-336x224.jpg\")
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