The Tourism Commission in Austin has implied that it might propose that the city become more accommodating toward major events that can introduce large numbers of visitors to the locality. This could involve developing major gathering areas in the center of the city, allow more road closures and other potential disturbances to accommodate large shows and finding ways to meet the needs of large businesses looking to invest millions of dollars locally.
Striving to Create a More Conducive Environment
In the commission’s recent meeting, Ben Blocker, the director of events for local event and festival manufacturer C3 Presents, shared his experiences creating large events in Austin and other main U.S. cities. According to Blocker, urban leaders are typically more keen and obliging in these areas.
Blocker also mentioned the CMT Music Awards, which have been held at the Moody Center. The past two years have seen the removal of their downtown activation on Congress Avenue, in front of the state Capitol. This was due to problems with road closures and the procurement of enough police officers, as mandated by the municipality.
Nashville Vs Austin
Blocker marked that Nashville, the previous host city of CMT, was nationally recognized for its forward-thinking problem-solving skills, allowing events to be hosted easily. However, compared to Nashville, Austin was identified as more challenging in terms of hosting these events.
Blocker also mentioned that the fast-paced construction activities in downtown Austin have eliminated many parking lots and other alternate spaces for hosting events. This made it difficult for the city to permit more events at Auditorium Shores or other such locations that may need the collaboration of multiple city departments.
Making it easier for Convention planning
According to Commissioner Ed Bailey, Blocker’s feedback will come in handy when the city and the Austin Convention Center look at reorganizing their business negotiation processes. This can help improve the chances of large conventions and events selecting Austin over other large cities.
“The conversation we’re having about the convention center expansion is based around competition and how difficult it is to secure the right scale of conference in the city. They couldn’t compete with cities like Vegas,” Bailey remarked.
Calling for Lower Costs and Shorter Timelines
The Chair, Daniel Ronan, expressed his interest in driving the city to devise methods to lessen the expenses and timescales for producing large-scale events. He stated,”If the city cannot follow through on its own requirements, perhaps we need to reassess and become more flexible. We need to work with companies and individuals looking to invest in our city, especially as cities across the nation are also doing the same.”
The open conversation aims to encourage more events and larger conventions to choose Austin as their host city, which could lead to more business for the local hotels and generate more hotel occupancy tax revenue.