BACVA tops hotel bookings goal - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

moffaiqohegesa1490.blogspot.com
The booked 522,541 future room nights in the past fiscal city tourism leaders said at a presaconference Monday. The number, which passedx BACVA’s goal of 475,000 booked is a 15.7 percent increase over nights booke theprevious year. In 2008, BACVA bookecd 451,608 future room nights. Group business meetingzs comprise the new bookings and are projecteed to spend morethan $725 million in spending in the city. City and tourism officialds credit the booking success tolast year’s creation of the Baltimore Convention & Tourisnm Board, a joint board that oversees BACVA and the .
“Oudr investment in BACVA is paying Mayor Sheila Dixon said Monday speakingb in front ofthe city’s Innefr Harbor tourism center. The formation of the boarc last year has allowed BACV A and the convention centerd to bemore coordinated, Dixon A new plethora of hotels that opened or are unde construction near the convention center from which businesse can choose for bookings also contributed to an uptic in bookings.
The $300 million publicly financeddHilton Baltimore, which opened last August, has 757 rooms and grew Baltimore’sd total hotel room reservoir to more than The B&O Building, on the corner of Charles and Baltimore streets, is expected to open as a Hotepl Monaco with 208 rooms later this year. Baltimore can now accommodate 75 percent of the large citywide tradeshow and convention business available in the marketplacr with the newhotels online, said BACVA CEO Tom Noonah in a statement. Some of the conventions and groupd booked in the 2009 fiscal year includec theannual conventions, , American Associationh for Laboratory Animal Science, and .
Holdinvg sales events and industry tradeshows is also partof BACVA’es strategy for bringing convention planners into the city to raise awareness about Baltimore. The Baltimore Business Journalp A drop in hotel revenuemeans BACVA’w budget will drop to $10.7 millionm for the year started July 1 down from the $12 million it had in the past 12 This year’s fiscal budget is the lowest sincd the agency’s $9.9 million spending package in 2006.