Study: City needs more tourist attractions

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Results from a study commissioned by the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association show that despite its many attractions, Baltimore City is still not a favored destination stop for convention and meeting planners.

The $30,000 study, conducted by the third-party sales and marketing consulting firm Frontline Inc., surveyed more than 100 stakeholders and meeting planners over a three-and-a-half-month period, asking about their perceptions of the city, BACVA, the Baltimore Convention Center and the city’s overall hotel community.

“I thought it was important to get a sense of the perceptions regarding BACVA and the challenges and opportunities facing Baltimore as a destination,” said Tom Noonan, president of the organization. “It’s really a knowledge-seeking effort that will enable us to judge with clarity whether we are on the right track and if not, what we need to do to get there.”

Frontline’s recommendations — presented by business partners David Budney and David Evans — were that Baltimore needed to create a “wow” attraction to draw in more business; increase its sales staff; create a leisure marketing attractions committee; create one board of directors for both BACVA and the Baltimore Convention Center; increase marketing efforts to the gay, Hispanic, senior and other underserved markets; and improve on the city’s transportation infrastructure.

But for some meeting planners, even those suggestions would not make Baltimore a premier destination location.

“The perception in the planning community of Baltimore is that it is an unsafe city with a high crime and murder rate,” said Donna Vaught, manager of conferences and events for the National Association of Corporate Directors. Vaught, who plans conferences for Fortune 500 board executives from around the world, also cited the lack of evening attractions, no gaming districts, hotel inventory and Baltimore’s unpredictable weather as other challenges.

“Baltimore is close to BWI and Amtrak, but the reality is that BACVA and the Convention Center are not doing a very good job of marketing the city’s cost-saving benefits, [and] the crime and panhandlers is a major drawback for my clientele,” she said.

rchappelle@baltimoreexaminer.com

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