Atlanta will welcome back ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership for the 2013 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition Aug. 3-6.
Last held in Atlanta in 1992, the ASAE will bring with it an estimated 6,000 association industry professionals, including CEOs, meeting planners and industry partners. This year’s event will also mark the highest number of association executives to attend the conference since 2008.
The 2013 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition will offer many of its attendees a first look at the city. According to an ASAE survey, nearly 69 percent of registrants have never held a meeting in Atlanta while 10 percent haven’t convened in the city in the last five to 10 years.
“ASAE provides us with the ability to host thousands of association executives, many of whom haven’t been to Atlanta in years,” said William Pate, president and CEO, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. “With associations making up 75 percent of our convention business, it’s a great opportunity to refresh their perspective on our city.”
Attendees will find the city they visited 21 years ago has changed dramatically. In the past decade alone, more than $5 billion in new attractions, restaurants and hotels have opened in the city. Centennial Olympic Park is now the center of a compact convention district, connecting the Georgia World Congress Center with 10,000 hotel rooms, major attractions and a number of new restaurants.
And there’s even more to come. More than $2.5 billion in hospitality development will open throughout the next five years, including the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, College Football Hall of Fame, Atlanta Streetcar and a new Falcons stadium.
“Atlanta has a new story to tell our attendees,” said John H. Graham IV, president and CEO, ASAE. “When considering host cities, we really felt Atlanta would provide a great meeting location and a fabulous meeting experience, too.”
Historically, 20 percent of association executives attending ASAE will book a meeting in the host city within five to seven years. If attendees behave similar to those in the past, Atlanta could generate more than $500 million in future economic impact through bookings by ASAE attendees. This is in addition to the projected $16 million ASAE attendees, exhibitors and sponsors will inject into the Atlanta economy during the four-day meeting.
Celebrating 100 years of hospitality, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau is a private, non-profit organization created to favorably impact the Atlanta economy through conventions and tourism.
