With destinations known for wellness, world-class skiing, and even a 127-foot-high clocktower, the Southwest has a wide array of options to entice meeting planners and their guests. These locations offer ample meeting space to get down to business, as well as unique activities—think the Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico or a visit to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas—to keep attendees engaged in their downtime.
Back to the 25 Best Smaller Markets for Meetings list
Population: 7,560
If You Were Considering: Denver; Salt Lake City
Known For: Two ski mountains within its city limits; the Main Street district with a preserved heritage dating to its founding as a silver mine town in 1870; 47 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places
Largest Meeting Space: Montage Deer Valley, at Deer Valley Resort, has 55,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor function space.
Transport: Salt Lake City International Airport, 25 miles away, provides nonstop service to more than 80 cities on regional carriers and four major airlines—including Delta, which has a hub in the city.
Who's Met There? Sundance Film Festival; American Express 2017 Champions Club; General Electric; International Liver Transplant Society
Selling Point: Stunning mountain views and world-class skiing make this a popular destination. Facilities are modern, due in part to the 2002 Winter Olympics, which hosted several events in the city.
Population: 10,280
If You Were Considering: Austin; Scottsdale; Santa Fe, New Mexico
Known For: Red rock formations; wellness, spiritual healing, and meditation; art and culture; spas
Largest Meeting Space: The Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock offers 14,400 square feet of meeting space, including a nearly 5,000-square-foot ballroom.
Transport: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is about two hours away and boasts more than 1,200 aircraft foliage tours arriving and departing daily. About 45 minutes north of Sedona, Flagstaff Pulliam Airport offers direct flights to and from Phoenix. Private and charter aircraft fly into Sedona Airport.
Who's Met There? Symposia Medicus; Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Selling Point: The city offers Native American culture, art galleries that often have openings and receptions on the first Friday of the month, national monuments such as Montezuma Castle, and plenty of outdoor adventures, such as hiking, land, and water activities.
Did You Know? Enchantment Resort is a neighbor to red rock formations; fall foliage tours abound.
Population: 82,000
If You Were Considering: Scottsdale; Austin; San Antonio; San Diego
Known For: Colorful markets; traditional and contemporary art; the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
Largest Meeting Space: The Santa Fe Community Convention Center features the city’s largest ballroom, the Sweeney ballroom, which has 18,000 square feet of space.
Transport: The Santa Fe Municipal Airport provides flights from Phoenix, Dallas, and Denver on two major commercial carriers. Albuquerque International Sunport is 65 miles south, while Amtrak trains stop in Lamy, about 17 miles away.
Who's Met There? Santa Fe Indian Market; International Folk Art Market; Dual Language La Cosecha
Selling Point: The easily walkable city has 320 days of sunshine and a small-town feel with international appeal. The city won the National Geographic World Legacy Award in 2017 for “Sense of Place.”
Population: 50,000
If You Were Considering: Austin; Dallas; San Antonio; San Diego
Known For: The 127-foot-high Grapevine Glockenspiel Clock Tower, featuring two nine-foot-tall train robbers; a number of wineries
Largest Meeting Space: The 1,511-room Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center offers more than 400,000 square feet of meeting space.
Transport: Grapevine is 10 minutes from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which has 10 domestic carriers and 17 international carriers operating more than 2,000 flights daily. It is the largest hub for American Airlines.
Who's Met There? A financial services company with 9,000 room nights; a research and advisory company with 5,800 room nights; a global tech company with 3,500 room nights
Selling Point: Meeting attendees bringing families can visit the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, Legoland Discovery Center, or Sea Life Grapevine Aquarium.
Did You Know? The Gaylord Texan hotel is adding 300 rooms and 86,000 square feet of meeting space.
Population: 200,000
If You Were Considering: Memphis; New Orleans; Oklahoma City
Known For: The William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park; the Central High School National Historic Site; the Esse Purse Museum, which features a permanent exhibiton of purses and their contents from 1900 to 1999.
Largest Meeting Space: The Statehouse Convention Center has 220,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including an 18,000-square-foot ballroom and a pair of exhibit halls spanning nearly 83,000 square feet.
Transport: A six-year upgrade, costing more than $90 million, of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport is slated for completion in the first half of 2018. It has 50 daily flights on six airlines, including direct flights to 13 domestic markets.
Who's Met There? American Taekwondo Association; Future Business Leaders of America, Arkansas Chapter; Miss Arkansas Pageant
Selling Point: A $70.5 million expansion and renovation of the historic Robinson Center allows the city to accommodate larger and more diverse groups.
