Seattle Metronatural News

Issue 3 : December 2007

IN THIS ISSUE:
Outlook on Tourism
News & Initiatives
PCMA At-A-Glance
Schedule Highlights
Speakers
Tours
Committees
Sponsors
Tourism Ambassador
On The Road
In Tribute
Membership Events Calendar
Member Opportunities
New Members

Page 1 2 3 4 5 6

Don Welsh Outlook on Tourism
A Message from Don Welsh, President & CEO, Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau

Dear Tourism Supporter,

As Paul Revere once said, "the British are coming!" The rallying cry in our office and around the city recently is "PCMA is coming!"

Just one month from now, the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Annual Meeting will take place in Seattle. As we all know, this meeting will not only showcase our city, but will also expose thousands of meeting planners and association executives to our region, Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.

January 13-16, 2008, approximately 3,500 of the nation's most influential meeting and tourism leaders will convene in Seattle. Our opening reception on Sunday, January 13 (as well as most core convention meetings) will take place in the Washington State Convention & Trade Center, followed by a late evening dessert, fashion show and shopping extravaganza at the Nordstrom flagship store in downtown Seattle.

Similar networking receptions and parties are scheduled for Bell Harbor International Conference Center, Experience Music Project, Kell's Irish Restaurant & Pub and the Sheraton Seattle Hotel. Between 80-100 parties and restaurant buyouts will take place throughout the week. Our PCMA guests will truly experience the very best that we have to offer during their time here.

Our city and region has gained the reputation for being team-oriented when taking care of our customers and one another. I am so proud and grateful to say that this attitude has prevailed from day one of our planning for the PCMA Annual Meeting. We have successfully raised the $1.5 million that is required to host PCMA, anchored by a very generous $500,000 commitment from the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. A complete listing of all of the major sponsors can be found inside this newsletter. Thanks to those of you who have contributed cash, in-kind and thousands of volunteer hours over the last year to get ready for PCMA. We are honored and grateful!

In closing, we are thrilled to be hosting PCMA, and we know that attendees will have a great meeting and fond memories of their Seattle experience. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that generating new business is the primary goal for all of us involved. Therefore, the commitment that we have made to our Board of Directors and other key financial stakeholders is to generate in excess of $50 million in future new convention business for the city and region. Our sales and marketing teams have strategies in place to track our PCMA guests long after they depart Seattle.

Thank you, Seattle. Here's to future business!

Sincerely,

View SCVB's PCMA microsite

Getting Ready For PCMA 2008...

The upcoming Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) convention will showcase Seattle and the surrounding area to 3,500 meeting professionals, CEOs and meetings and convention industry suppliers, many of whom are decision makers of future business.

PCMA Sponsors
There's still time to participate and be a part of this exciting opportunity! For more information and to confirm your support please contact:

Joan Cahill, CMP,
206-461-5834
jcahill@visitseattle.org

Jimmy Bright
Who is Jimmy Bright, anyway?

NEWS & INITIATIVES

Oct. 2 - Heathman Hotel Opens. The Heathman Hotel Kirkland, sister property of the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon opened with 91 guestrooms, 2,500 square-feet of meeting space, a 5,000 square-foot spa and Trellis, a 90-seat restaurant and bar and fitness center.

Oct. 4 - Sheraton Hosts "Glam Opening." The Sheraton Seattle Hotel celebrated the official opening of its new Union Street Tower with a blow-out, celebration featuring a public concert by Kool & The Gang. The expanded property offers an additional 31,000 square feet of meeting space and brings total guestrooms to 1,258, making the Sheraton the first 1,000-plus guestroom hotel in the city.

Oct. 12 - Alaska Airline Inaugurates Hawaii Service. Daily nonstop service between Seattle and Honolulu was inaugurated, followed by the commencement of service to Lihue, on the island of Kauai, on Oct. 28. The new flights are operated by a Boeing 737-800.

Oct. 12 - Alexis Hotel Unveils Luxurious New Look. The Alexis inaugurated a $10 million renovation that added 12 new guestrooms and a new gallery-inspired interior design while keeping the hotel's historic 1901 exterior intact. The redesign also updated the property's 2,905 square-feet of meeting and banquet space.

Oct. 27 - Seattle Hosts Climate Conference. The U.S. Conference of Mayors drew more than 100 mayors as well as former President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore to focus on climate change. In 2005, Mayor Greg Nickels launched the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to advance the goals of the Kyoto Protocol through leadership and action. More than 700 mayors have now signed on and the U.S. Conference of Mayors has launched its Climate Protection Center to administer and track the agreement.

Nov. 12 - Lufthansa Airlines. New daily international non-stop service between Seattle and Frankfurt, Germany, will begin March 30, 2008; Lufthansa is the largest carrier of international passengers in the world and Frankfurt is the eighth largest airport in the world.

Nov. 28 - Convention of Culture. The 2007 Cultural & Heritage Tourism Alliance Conference was held in Seattle, through December 1. SCVB's Cultural Tourism Director, Tracey Wickersham, chaired the conference.

Conference attendees sample Savor Seattle Food Tours.

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
Issue 3: December 2007

Also available online: visitseattle.org/news

Download as PDF: 572kb, prints on legal size paper

Seattle Metronatural News is a quarterly tourism industry newsletter that is edited and published by Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau.

COMMENTS
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Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau
One Convention Place ][ 701 Pike St ][ Suite 800 ][ Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 461-5800 www.visitseattle.org