Las Vegas Comes to Connecticut

It's not uncommon for there to be action all night long at a casino resort, but MGM Grand at Foxwoods is abuzz 24/7 with activity of a whole other kind. Workers are putting the finishing touches on this new 825-room property, set to swing open its doors on May 17.

This $700 million upscale hotel-casino complex is connected via skywalk to its sister property, the 1,416-room Foxwoods. With 340,000 square feet of gaming space, Foxwoods is the largest casino in North America. Similar to Vegas-style properties, the MGM Grand's casino will be comparatively small. Its focus is on fine lodging, dining (including outdoor areas), entertainment, an outdoor pool, and two floors of first-rate meeting space. The décor will be contemporary and edgy, with soaring windows to "bring the outdoors in."

"This is our meeting machine," said Gillian Murphy, MGM Grand's senior vice president and general manager, as she led a recent hardhat tour of the property. "Our goal is to have 35 percent of our occupancy be from the group market. Presently, at Foxwoods, less than 15 percent comes from group business because of a lack of meeting space."

Joan Esneault, vice president resort sales, MGM Grand at Foxwoods, said MGM has already booked association groups that couldn't be accommodated at Foxwoods and is looking for further business from this market segment. "Groups that outgrew Foxwoods are coming back," she said. Small national associations that require 1,300 nights at peak will be ideal, she added.

Among the associations that have booked programs at MGM Grand are the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography's annual conference in October, utilizing 1,000 guest rooms with 1,700 attendees in both MGM Grand and Foxwoods; and Toastmasters International's annual international convention in August of 2009, utilizing 600 rooms on peak night with 1,300 to 1,500 attendees.

Many groups have found that gaming resorts can be surprisingly economical and MGM will be no different. "There are no resort fees, we don't charge for parking, and will offer free wireless Internet in the guest rooms and outside of the meeting space," said Murphy.

This partnership gives Las Vegas-based MGM Grand a presence in Connecticut, access to the Northeast market and Indian gaming.

In turn, the Mashantucket Pequot tribe gains an experienced partner as it tries to diversify its operations in the face of rising competition in New England.

MGM Grand Highlights
Highlights include the 4,000-seat MGM Grand Theater, 115,000 square feet of meeting space including a 50,000-square-foot column-free ballroom, (complementing the existing 45,000 square feet of space at Foxwoods), which brings the total to 160,000 square feet of meeting space. Celebrity chef restaurants will include Michael Schlow's Alta Strada; Tom Colicchio's critically acclaimed craftsteak; Shrine, a dining venue offering a Las Vegas-style nightlife experience within a classic Asian-designed interior; and the landmark New York eatery, Junior's.

Andrea Doyle is Convene's senior writer.

Study Finds Strategic Marketing Key To Increasing International Attendance

In its first sur-vey of trade show professionals, Commercial News USA, the official U.S. Department of Commerce export promotion publication, says its findings confirm that international attendance at U.S. trade shows is increasing. The survey, "Attracting International Visitors/Buyers to Your Trade Show or Expo," was conducted between December and January, via e-mail surveys to more than 4,000 trade show professionals. The goal of the survey was to quantify the increase in international attendance at U.S. trade shows since Sept. 11 and to identify strategies that trade show directors and marketers are employing to cultivate international visitors.

Highlights of the findings:

• Almost 64 percent of respondents reported that international visitors to their 2007 shows increased, and 61.6 percent reported that international visitors comprised a greater proportion of total visitors.
• More than half of the survey respondents say that international visitors are either their highest priority or a very high priority.
• Nearly half project that their budgets for attracting international visitors will increase in 2008 and 2009.
• Although slightly less than half of the survey respondents invest $10 or less to attract each international attendee to their show, 25 percent invest $40 or more per attendee.
• While traditional print advertising and direct mail marketing are important components of show marketing plans, e-mail, Web-based marketing, and other non-traditional strategies are increasingly important.
• 26 percent report that the Pacific Rim (including China, Japan, and Australia) is most important to them. At approximately 25 percent each, North America, Europe, and Asia (including India) are identified by respondents as regions on which they will focus their international marketing strategies.
• Show marketers are offering special programming and amenities for international visitors, relationship marketing and business match-making opportunities, and marketing directed to pre-qualified prospects.
• Two-thirds of respondents project that international attendance will increase in 2008. Another 25 percent project that international attendance will remain about the same. Only 6.3 percent project that international attendance will decline. By comparison, 15 percent of respondents to Convene's 2008 Meetings Market Survey predicted that international attendance to their meetings would increase; 61 percent predicted no change; and only 3 percent predicted a decline in attendance.

The survey is available as an Adobe PDF document at www.thinkglobal. us/tradeshowsurvey.

Michelle Russell is Convene's editor.