 Fueling both a revitalization of Niagara Falls, N.Y, and a reinvention of the city as a northeast meetings destination has been the Conference Center Niagara Falls. This $ 18.8 million, 116,000-square-foot facility, which features a 19,500-square-foot Learning Center, the 10,500 square foot Cascades Ballroom, a 32,200-square-foot Event Center and 15 high-tech Meeting Rooms, opened in 2004 and since then Niagara Falls has been on an upswing.
The revitalization has been a combination of renovations to hotel inventory and major infrastructure improvements in the surrounding downtown district. Increased definite room nights for Niagara Falls surged by 20,000 compared to 2006  totals. Meetings and other events secured and hosted by The Conference Center Niagara Falls generated an additional $4.2 million in bookings to area hotels compared to 2006 totals. "We expect this trend to continue as we use our management resources and network of contacts to promote the benefits of our state-of-the-art conference center," said William Jackson, Executive Vice President, Resorts & Conference Centers for Sentry Hospitality, facility management firm for The Conference Center Niagara Falls.
There are more than 2,000 hotel rooms available in Niagara Falls, and many of the lodging venues have upgraded their facilities, including a $2.5 million renovation of the Sheraton Four Points Hotel and a $24.5 million  renovation of the former Holiday Inn Select, which has been reappointed as a Crowne Plaza Hotel with upgraded rooms and the Old Falls Bar and Grill restaurant. In addition, a combination of government and private funds has enabled more than $7 million streetscape and road reconstruction for the downtown district surrounding The Conference Center Niagara Falls.
"Clearly the completion of renovations to the downtown area hotels, a re-energized Third Street, improvements to Old Falls Street, and restoration work ongoing throughout the city have helped us make an impact in the marketplace," said Mark Magarity, President & CEO of Sentry Hospitality. "Our team is committed tocapitalizing on the momentum we've generated, and I'm very optimistic about the future growth of the conference and convention market here in Niagara Falls."
"Besides attracting new customers, we are experiencing a larger percentage of repeat business," said Jennifer Noble,  Director of Sales & Marketing for The Conference Center Niagara Falls. "This is primarily due to the desire of these organizations to meet in Niagara Falls and the fact that we have consistently maintained a 4.75 out of 5 points on our customer satisfaction rating since opening in May 2004. The booking pace at the Conference Center is up over 50 percent for 2008."
The waterfalls that made Niagara Falls famous are only a stroll’s distance from the conference center and continue  to be a major attraction, but the revitalization has meant that meeting attendees have a host of entertainment options in addition to this natural wonder. "We have the Seneca Falls Casino & Hotel, which has been very popular, and there are a lot of shopping, entertainment venues and restaurants that have opened up," Noble added. "There are more and more things to do, which is important to meeting planners because their attendees want more than just a place to meet and a place to sleep. We have that now and it is fueling our meetings. We’re booking through 2014 at a very strong pace." |
