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The new Salt Lake International Airport will open in September 2020 after a major update that will increase capacity and offer a better experience for groups convening in the city. (Courtesy Visit Salt Lake)
Nestled in the Wasatch mountain ranges, Salt Lake City is a vibrant metropolis surrounded by jaw-dropping scenery. With inventive restaurants, brewpubs, and cocktail bars, the destination offers engaging options for convention planners. The destination will reach new heights when the city’s $4.1-billion airport and first-ever convention center hotel, located in the heart of downtown, are completed.
City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake City offers world-class shopping and dining. (Courtesy Visit Salt Lake)
Opening in September 2020, the new Salt Lake International Airport will offer larger concourses with “plenty of seats,” Mike Williams, the airport program director, told The Salt Lake Tribune. Each of those seats will have charging capability for phones and laptops for travelers’ convenience, he said.
A large central plaza with 45-foot-tall windows offering mountain views was constructed with sustainability in mind, using water-efficient plumbing fixtures and offering easy access to public transportation.
“It was time for a new, larger, and even more efficient airport that could accommodate the vastly increased number of passengers,” Mark White, senior vice president of sales and services at Visit Salt Lake, told PCMA. “The state-of-the-art terminal layout and new systems will enable meeting attendees to get in and out of the airport even more quickly. And the light rail line that runs directly to the convention district, for a $2.50 fare each way, has been built directly into the terminal.”
In addition to the new airport, a $337-million convention hotel is currently under construction and set to open spring 2022. Built into the southeast corner of the Salt Palace Convention Center, the sleek 25-story Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City will be the city’s first-ever convention center hotel. After receiving numerous requests from clients asking that a large name-brand hotel with an abundance of suites and meeting space be built into the Salt Palace, Visit Salt Lake decided to move forward with the project. “The Salt Lake hospitality community responded to the clients’ wishes,” White said.
The new convention hotel will house more than 700 guest rooms, a spacious ground-floor lobby, on-site restaurant, and convenient corner market. “While there are 200 bars and restaurants in the convention district, the Hyatt Regency will bring even more options for dining and drinking,” White said.
The Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City, connected to the Salt Palace Convention Center, is set to open in 2022. (Copyright Portman Architects)
The hotel will house 60,000 square feet of state-of-the-art meeting space, including a 25,852-square-foot ballroom and a 6,000-square-foot pool pavilion for outdoor receptions and networking events. “The outdoor terrace on the sixth floor will provide planners with additional options for breakout rooms and social functions,” White said. With the 700,000-square-foot Salt Palace Convention Center directly connected to the hotel, organizers will never be short on space.
Located in the center of the city’s convention district, this new property will make it much easier for planners and attendees to navigate their events. “The addition of the Hyatt Regency will make Salt Lake’s hotel package even more compact, and enable the destination to accommodate even larger conventions,” White said. “It will enable more convention attendees to be located adjacent to the convention center, and its approximately three dozen suites will enable planners to better accommodate their key staff and VIPs.”
