Major Tennessee markets have completed recent hotel and convention expansions, or announced plans for them, and the movement has filtered to up-and-coming, peripheral markets. These newcomers hope to lure fresh travel dollars with accessibility, greater value and family-friendly amenities ranging from high-end shopping to spa retreats. All that newly minted meeting space prompts the question, is there enough business to go around?

Middle Tennessee's conventions business is in the midst of significant expansion. Plans for a new Nashville convention center are "out of the blocks," says Convention and Visitors Bureau president and CEO Butch Spyridon. In January, the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency released recommendations for a $595 million, 375,000-square-foot convention center. Spyridon deems the existing facility inadequate for today's market, citing business lost in recent years to market competitors such as Atlanta, Dallas, and New Orleans.

Spyridon estimated the project will be complete by 2011 and will include an 800 to 1,000-room attached hotel. Several hotel developers are interested, he says. "We're working on a parallel track to make sure the hotel is part of the project. It's a critical part of the success of the new convention center."

With Nashville's hotel occupancy rate hovering at 65%, "I think we'll have a solid year, but 2008 will be about absorbing new supply and weathering the economic slowdown," he says. Meanwhile, Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center will break ground in late 2008 on a $400 million addition that includes a 400-suite wing and 400,000 square feet of meeting space—bringing total inventory to 3,281 hotel rooms and more than one million square feet of convention space. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the fourth quarter, with an anticipated completion date of 2011. The demand exists, say hotel officials, citing Gaylord's 81% occupancy rate—its highest since the early 1990s—and the fact that the hotel turned away an average $2 million in room nights in 2006.

Gaylord is also investing $45 million in a restaurant and entertainment overhaul to target a younger audience. The project includes three new restaurants and a 15,000-square-foot, Vegas-style nightclub and a Mexican cantina. Gaylord has hired a well-known nightclub designer for the project, which has been heralded in industry publications as a departure from the area's predominantly "honky-tonk nightlife." The first phase of the renovation opened in fall 2007 and the second phase—the nightclub and restaurants, also known as "The District"—is scheduled to open in late 2008.

"Gaylord's business traveler is skewing younger—in the 38-to-42 age range—and convention visitors make up 80% of our business," says Kim Keelor, Gaylord's director of public relations. "The updates are designed to maintain Gaylord's tradition of classic hospitality and offer the modern amenities that our visitors desire."

Despite speculation about possible competition between two large venues in Nashville, hotel and city officials believe that both will continue to do well because of their differences: the urban convention center in the heart of historic downtown versus the all-inclusive, resort-like setting at Opryland.

Murfreesboro is making a bid for larger convention groups with a new Embassy Suites luxury hotel and conference center. The 10-story, 283-room, all-suite hotel and adjoining 80,000-square-foot conference center will add 43,325 square feet of meeting and event space when it opens in September 2008.

The development enables Murfreesboro to fulfill requests in its growing 300 to 1,000-member convention sales niche, according to Mona Herring, vice president, Convention and Visitors' Bureau. The Embassy Suites complex is part of the city's landmark Gateway project, a 400-acre, mixed-use development in the city's northwest corridor that includes The Avenue Murfreesboro, an open-air retail complex that opened in October 2007.

Turning east, Chattanooga's convention center, doubled in size after a 2003 expansion, allows the city to accommodate increasingly larger events. Downtown convention and meeting space currently totals 300,000 square feet, 185,000 of which is contained within the Chattanooga Convention Center. The facility has been nationally recognized for its leadership role in adopting "green building" technology, including solar heat and natural light.

Approximately 2,000 hotel rooms are located downtown, with an additional 7,000 rooms at the city's perimeter. Current projects include a renovation and expansion of the Chattanooga Clarion Hotel, which will reopen in fall 2008 as a Doubletree Inn and Suites, with 186 rooms and 11,000 square feet of meeting space.

In 2007, Chattanooga hosted more than 28 conventions of 600-plus attendees, with an economic impact of nearly $15 million. Annual tourism spending is more than $647 million, and convention and meeting bookings have increased 18% since 2004."

Farther east, Sevierville and Kingsport are committing significant resources to raising their respective profiles among convention-goers. Sevierville recently commissioned a study to help with city branding and marketing efforts, casting itself as the high-end member of the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville trio and targeting first-time visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains. Marketing efforts are collaborative, not competitive, according to Amanda Maples Marr, marketing director, Sevierville Chamber of Commerce. "Visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains experience Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville seamlessly," she explains. "Our focus is on marketing Sevierville as a part of the trio and gaining better name recognition among business travelers seeking an upscale, family-friendly destination."

The centerpiece of Sevierville's efforts is Bridgemont, a $65 million luxury conference and retreat center with dining, shopping and spa facilities, which opened in September 2007. The 240,000-square-foot events center significantly expands the city's capability to host larger conventions, and the center has bookings reaching into the year 2017. Companion developments include a 284-room Wilderness Resort, to open in June, and a 300-room hotel with a spa and two 18-hole golf courses. The new development brings Sevierville's total hotel inventory to 4,100 rooms. Developers and city officials have worked together on road and infrastructure improvements to enhance the area's accessibility.

Nearby, Pigeon Forge's Belle Island Village development will open in 2008, with a 126-room resort hotel, 90-store retail complex and tourist attractions.

Kingsport announced a $15 million expansion/enhancement project for its MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort and Convention Center: two new wings, 110 new hotel rooms, and upgrades to 195 existing hotel rooms and amenities. The project will begin this summer, with an anticipated completion date of late summer 2009, and may also include new convention space. Local hotel occupancy rates are holding steady at 70% to 80%, according to hotel officials. Mayor Dennis Phillips recently urged city aldermen to examine center operation and consider further convention and meeting space investments to remain competitive with sister cities. MeadowView opened in 1996, with 35,000 square feet of convention space and 30,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space. The facility is a partnership between the city of Kingsport, which owns the convention center and golf course, and Eastman Chemical Co., which owns the hotel and restaurant.

Knoxville reports a 40% increase in convention bookings from second quarter 2006 to second quarter 2007. Leads generated are up 25% over the previous year, and the size of conventions booked has increased 8%, says Kim Paul, senior vice president, sales & marketing, Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corp.

Technology has also created new bedfellows in the marketplace. "Internet booking has leveled the playing field," Paul explains. "Ten years ago, we considered Louisville, Charlotte and Nashville our competition. Past conference sites were a reliable predictor for future planning—that's not necessarily the case anymore. Now, we go head-to-head with first-tier cities like San Antonio, Dallas, and New York."

Looking west, while Memphis officials predicted a record-breaking year, touting a 40% increase in hotel room bookings from 2007 to early 2008 and predicting 2009 as the best year to date, the future of the city's largest meeting area remains in question.

Cook Convention Center underwent a $106.5 million restoration in 2003. In January, Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton revealed plans to evaluate the further expansion—or replacement—of the 350,000-square-foot facility, with several as-yet unnamed sites under consideration. Though the existing center was completed behind schedule and over budget, Herenton deemed the expansion a "worthwhile investment" amid what he considers a convention "arms race" among Tennessee cities, according to recent news reports. Calls to the Mayor's office and convention staff seeking additional information were not returned.

The annual Travel Industry Association (TIA) forecast cited modest 2% growth for 2008 in domestic leisure trips and a neutral year for business travel, with 0.4% growth, a slight improvement over 2007's 1.7% decline. Tennessee historically weathers tourism variances favorably, and industry officials feel this trend will hold true for the foreseeable future. The bottom line? While business travel experts predict modest growth nationally, Tennessee officials anticipate a solid 2008.