This summer's Republican National Convention promises to have both a short- and long-term impact on New York, its infrastructure and the city's corporate entertainment business. The convention will bring 50,000 people—and their wallets—to the city during the last week of August, along with plenty of related events and international media attention on the city as a travel and meeting destination. That means plenty of money and work for the event industry during what would typically be a sleepy time of the year, as well as some new promotional programs and improvements for the city's venues.
"The convention is taking place at a time of year that is soft for us," says Dan Searby, senior vice president of marketing at Restaurant Associates. "It's well timed." Although many related events won't get scheduled until Republican planners release the convention's official program, the catering giant already has bookings at venues including the Metropolitan Museum, Lincoln Center and the Intrepid Museum.
NYC Host Committee 2004, the organization formed to work with the planners of the convention, is already planning two big events: a welcoming party for the media on August 28 and a similar event for delegates on August 29.
"We anticipate that all ten of our private rooms will be booked up for the week," says Bryan McGuire, general manager of the 21 Club. Although the restaurant is traditionally closed in August and early September for annual maintenance, this year it will remain open to host parties by Republicans and whoever else wants to entertain while the convention is in town.
In late January, the R.N.C. assigned hotels to its delegations, based on the size of the groups and their requests for facilities like meeting rooms and function space. Gary Sims, general manager of the Sheraton Hotels of New York, says 1,500 of the hotels' 2,400 total rooms will be occupied during the convention, and the staffs will work to provide whatever extra perks conventioneers request.
Four New York Marriott hotels will host state delegations-Midtown's Marriott Marquis is assigned to California, Ohio and Tennessee-and they may offer special state-specific menus and cocktails for their groups, according to marketing and sales executive Daren Kingi. He says the hotels are considering giving delegates newspapers from their home states and setting up special V.I.P. tables in public areas to provide special assistance to delegates.
With the convention in Madison Square Garden, the host committee is putting the media center across the street in the James A. Farley post office, and plans to construct a bridge over Eighth Avenue to link the two venues. And the convention's use of the post office has pushed up the city's plan to convert the Farley building into the new Penn Station, according to Cristyne Nicholas, president and chief executive of NYC & Company, the city's tourism marketing organization.
The G.O.P. events have also bumped the New York Liberty women's basketball games—normally played in the Garden—to Radio City Music Hall during the convention. (MSG L.P. owns the team and two venues.) "This is the first time Radio City has been used as a basketball arena. This is thinking out of the box; it's incredibly brilliant," Nicholas says. "Those who use Radio City will look at it in a whole new light—maybe it will bring new ideas to the hall."
One change she hopes will become permanent after the convention is a new push to promote city tourism outside of Manhattan. NYC & Company will offer convention delegates tours of the other four boroughs that will leave from its visitors' center at Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street.
"If these are successful and we can find sponsorship, we hope we can make these a permanent product that we can market overseas and in the United States, to encourage people to explore New York City beyond the island of Manhattan," she says.
Noting that the city's annual Restaurant Week programs and the Broadway on Broadway show presented by the League of American Theaters & Producers were first created for the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York, Nicholas says similar events are in the works for the R.N.C.
Restaurant guide publisher and New York tourism booster Tim Zagat says the convention's biggest impact will be the long-term promotion of the city as a result of the event's considerable media attention. "Most reporters know the results of the convention—that's not an issue," he says. "They're looking for a lot of color stuff. The city will treat them unbelievably well."
—Jane L. Levere
Posted 02.26.04
"The convention is taking place at a time of year that is soft for us," says Dan Searby, senior vice president of marketing at Restaurant Associates. "It's well timed." Although many related events won't get scheduled until Republican planners release the convention's official program, the catering giant already has bookings at venues including the Metropolitan Museum, Lincoln Center and the Intrepid Museum.
NYC Host Committee 2004, the organization formed to work with the planners of the convention, is already planning two big events: a welcoming party for the media on August 28 and a similar event for delegates on August 29.
"We anticipate that all ten of our private rooms will be booked up for the week," says Bryan McGuire, general manager of the 21 Club. Although the restaurant is traditionally closed in August and early September for annual maintenance, this year it will remain open to host parties by Republicans and whoever else wants to entertain while the convention is in town.
In late January, the R.N.C. assigned hotels to its delegations, based on the size of the groups and their requests for facilities like meeting rooms and function space. Gary Sims, general manager of the Sheraton Hotels of New York, says 1,500 of the hotels' 2,400 total rooms will be occupied during the convention, and the staffs will work to provide whatever extra perks conventioneers request.
Four New York Marriott hotels will host state delegations-Midtown's Marriott Marquis is assigned to California, Ohio and Tennessee-and they may offer special state-specific menus and cocktails for their groups, according to marketing and sales executive Daren Kingi. He says the hotels are considering giving delegates newspapers from their home states and setting up special V.I.P. tables in public areas to provide special assistance to delegates.
With the convention in Madison Square Garden, the host committee is putting the media center across the street in the James A. Farley post office, and plans to construct a bridge over Eighth Avenue to link the two venues. And the convention's use of the post office has pushed up the city's plan to convert the Farley building into the new Penn Station, according to Cristyne Nicholas, president and chief executive of NYC & Company, the city's tourism marketing organization.
The G.O.P. events have also bumped the New York Liberty women's basketball games—normally played in the Garden—to Radio City Music Hall during the convention. (MSG L.P. owns the team and two venues.) "This is the first time Radio City has been used as a basketball arena. This is thinking out of the box; it's incredibly brilliant," Nicholas says. "Those who use Radio City will look at it in a whole new light—maybe it will bring new ideas to the hall."
One change she hopes will become permanent after the convention is a new push to promote city tourism outside of Manhattan. NYC & Company will offer convention delegates tours of the other four boroughs that will leave from its visitors' center at Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street.
"If these are successful and we can find sponsorship, we hope we can make these a permanent product that we can market overseas and in the United States, to encourage people to explore New York City beyond the island of Manhattan," she says.
Noting that the city's annual Restaurant Week programs and the Broadway on Broadway show presented by the League of American Theaters & Producers were first created for the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York, Nicholas says similar events are in the works for the R.N.C.
Restaurant guide publisher and New York tourism booster Tim Zagat says the convention's biggest impact will be the long-term promotion of the city as a result of the event's considerable media attention. "Most reporters know the results of the convention—that's not an issue," he says. "They're looking for a lot of color stuff. The city will treat them unbelievably well."
—Jane L. Levere
Posted 02.26.04
The Republican National Convention in New York promises to draw a large group of delegates, journalists and elected officials, as it did in Philadelphia in 2000.
