Raleigh tourism and economic development officials are usually quick to inform the public when the city's three-year-old convention center gets positive recognition.
There's a reason for that. The decision to build the facility came after many long debates pitting Raleigh's pro-downtown constituencies, led by Mayor Charles Meeker, the Chamber and others, against conservatives who questioned the $221 million price tag and economic benefits.
The debate persists, with added complexity as the tourism industry faces challenges amid the poor national economy.
Now comes word of a new honor. The center appears this month on a list of the South's "most creative and professional" places to meet, as selected by readers of ConventionSouth, a leading trade magazine.
The recognition comes after a year in which the center hosted a national Plug-In Conference showcasing the latest electric plug-in vehicles, a sports show displaying "must have" items for outdoor lovers and an Internet summit that attracted some of the nation's leading tech thinkers.
New Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane spotlighted the honor Thursday in a statement released by the city.
“To have made such a great name for itself in just three years is really commendable,” she said. “But to have made a name in the convention business during this recession is truly fantastic.
“The Raleigh Convention Center’s reputation is only going to soar higher as more and more people have the opportunity to visit,” McFarlane continued.
But there are thorny financial issues facing the convention center, and the city will wade into many of them in an upcoming budget season expected to be even more grim than last year.
Last year, citing increased competition from convention centers in other cities, the City Council approved a one-time, $150,000 increase to a fund used to offset deep discounts given to organizations that book the facility.
Other cities offer bargain-basement discounts on their facilities, and Raleigh tourism officials said they need the money to stay competitive.
The money came from a fund supported by countywide hotel/motel and prepared food taxes.
The convention center uses it to pay for groups to use the downtown facility. It's common practice for convention centers, which justify the lost revenue by pointing to the money injected in the local economy by conference attendees sleeping in hotels, eating in local restaurants and dropping dollars in local shops.
For example, at least 14 groups attending conventions from August 2010 through June 2011 paid $1 or nothing, a discount that deprives convention center coffers of nearly $532,000. Convention center staff point to the tourism dollars those groups spend locally as the reason for offering those deep discounts.
In total, the center welcomed 351 events during fiscal year 2011 and hosted 402,787 guests. This translates to approximately 69,000 new room nights in Wake County hotels adding up to around $55 million of direct spending in the community, according to figures from the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Some organizations, such as the conservative John Locke Foundation, have been highly critical of the discounts for visiting groups, arguing that the public loses out twice - first by subsidizing the building, second by paying to attract visitors to a concentrated area of the city.
Some elected officials have also been critical. Thomas Crowder, who represents District D on the City Council, was the lone vote against extending the fund last year.
Crowder said he didn't want to give the convention center "a blank check" to entice other organizations.
But supporters point to evidence they say illustrates how Raleigh's tourism philosophy is paying off. Specifically, they cite jumps in the city's hotel/motel tax revenues.
Wake County collected more than $1.5 million in countywide hotel/motel and prepared food taxes in August, the most ever for the month and 18 percent more than the same period last year.
The convention center's greatest need, tourism officials say, is more hotel rooms in the immediate area. They believe the downtown area needs between 500 and 700 more hotel rooms to make the convention center more conducive to hosting large conferences and events.
There are signs of movement on this front. When it opens in the winter of 2012, the 126-room Hampton Inn & Suites will be the first new hotel in the downtown area since the Marriott opened along Fayetteville Street in July 2008.
Loren Gold, executive vice president at the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, told The N&O in October that over the previous month, he had five meetings with hotel developers interested in pursuing projects downtown.
That doesn't include projects proposed just outside downtown, including a 125-room hotel on Hillsborough Street across from the N.C. State University Bell Tower.
In the meantime, the convention center is in the midst of an eventful month. More than 2,000 people are expected Saturday when comedian Jay Leno headlines the WakeMed Foundation Society Gala's 50th anniversary.
A week later, the Champion Cheer and Dance competition on Dec. 17 is expected to draw more than 3,000 people.
While tourism boosters celebrate the plaudits and upcoming events, they also have plenty of work to do as they gear up for a discussion of the center's short- and long-term financial picture.
