Advanced bookings at the Music City Center have topped 700,000 room nights thanks to a local sheriff’s lobbying efforts. A plethora of groups and organizations have booked 86 events at the new convention center ahead of its predicted 2013 opening, according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The individuals expected to attend the convention center when it opens have also been predicted to spend approximately 731,543 nights in local hotel and motel rooms, which is nearly three-fourths of the bureau’s goal of one million before the center opens. A room night is hotel industry lingo for a single guest spending a single night in a hotel. Someone who spends three nights will account for three room nights.
According to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau President Butch Spyridon, “It’s extremely positive that many of the groups have chosen to book for multiple years and even added Music City to their regular meeting rotation. Nashville has gained a lot of momentum in recent months, and we are on pace to reach our goal.”
News wasn’t always so good for the center, especially when two groups that planned on using the center in 2013 pulled out due to fears that the $585 million venue would not be open in time for their March events. As of right now, the center is expected to open in April 2013. Regardless, bookings have continued. The American Automotive Service Association are among the most recent groups to book at the convention center.
In addition to that, the center landed the Correctional Group’s 2021 and 2024 meetings, in part due to lobbying by its president, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, according to the executive director, who also stated that a former association president, Juvenile Court Judge Betty Adams Green, was also instrumental.
Source: The Tennessean – Music City Center convention bookings top 730K room nights
