Government Meetings Give Long Beach a Lift in Challenging Climate

While corporate meetings are still lagging behind other meeting sectors in the post-recession bounce-back, government meetings have risen to take their place in the pecking order of Long Beach’s group business. 

“The government segment is really growing. When the government got involved in the banking and auto industries, we got a dedicated full-time person in Washington to focus on government meetings,” says Steve Goodling, president and CEO of the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Goodling, who recently spoke with Successful Meetings on the state of Long Beach’s group business market, notes that in working with planners of government meetings, the CVB learned they tend to bring more meetings back to the destination after a relationship has been established. 

“Government meeting planners really like working with oganizations that understand their contracting processes because it’s different than other meetings contracts,” Goodling says. “There needs to be a higher degree of trust between the CVB and government organization.”

Long Beach’s destination marketing chief says the resultant government meetings business has quickly climbed to number two behind association meetings in the city’s market segments. Government meetings have generated “a significant amount” of short-term room nights during a time “when corporate business hasn’t been as strong,” notes Goodling. 

But association meetings still dominate the Southern California city just south of Los Angeles. “Association members still want to meet and learn what’s new in their professions,” Goodling says. “The biggest challenge is continuing to find associations that haven’t discovered Long Beach yet. We consistently hear that association meeting planners tell their colleagues that we’re a new, viable destination. We’re still becoming known.”

This year has been challenging for Long Beach, as average room rates have remained flat in order to drive business and keep occupancy levels up, according to Goodling. “People with short-term business, of course, are looking for deals, he says.” Business next year remains flat, indicating shorter-term groups are still hesitant about the economic outlook, but confirmed bookings for 2012 and 2013 are pacing robustly. 

Among new developments in Long Beach is a citywide program to make the destination more bicycle-friendly. “We’ve received over $70 million in funding from various sources to move this bicycle program along,” says Goodling, adding that by the end of the first quarter next year, all major Long Beach attractions will feature credit-card-operated bicycle kiosks. (Bicycling magazine named Long Beach one of its five cities to watch.) It will make an already compact downtown even more navigable. 

City hospitality and tourism stakeholders are also working to get more properties onto the California Green Lodging Program. Goodling notes the CVB is working with local hoteliers and the state office to coordinate inspections and compliance. “I think planners, as they come here, will find we’re an extremely progressive city in a great Southern California location.” 

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