Calgary Ctr. Adds Depth To Mtgs.

<B>Calgary Ctr. Adds Depth To Mtgs.</B>

By Carolyn Green

While U.S. meeting planners may not have considered Calgary as a convention destination in the past, the recent opening of a $47 million addition to the Telus Convention Center could change their minds.

"The United States represents about 12 percent of our business, but we're hoping to grow that to 20 percent over the next five years," said Marcia Lyons, general manager of the center. Prior to the expansion, she said, space was so limited that it was not worthwhile to aggressively pursue U.S. business. However, the recent opening of the stand-alone building, connected to the existing center by a covered walkway, brings the total space to 120,000 square feet.

The addition is the first in Canada to have Category 6 fiber-optic cabling for high-speed Internet access. The building also has the capacity to allow 3,600 PCs to download information simultaneously.

Lyons said a decision to construct the addition "was dictated by the changing needs of the marketplace. Our convention center, built in 1974, was the first convention center built in Canada. It had a very small trade show floor, was pillared and had low ceilings. We started to lose market share." With the addition, Lyons said the facility now can comfortably hold meetings for groups of 4,000 attendees, although it could go as high as 6,000. If a meeting has a trade show component, the number drops to about 3,000 attendees. Only 1,500, or 1,000 people with a trade show, could be accommodated in the original facility.

Lyons said the convention center sales team will concentrate its U.S. marketing efforts on western and midwestern regions. "Transportation is very important to meeting planners and flying delegates from Washington to Calgary is somewhat of a challenge," she said. "We'll look at those areas but our strength is going to come from the West, where we have better airline connections.