Apr. 29--Kansas City's image is moving up these days in the eyes of the nation's professional meeting planners. But it still has a ways to go.

The sixth biennial survey by Kansas City-based Watkins Research Group, in association with Flaspohler Research Group, ranks nearly 50 major convention host cities based on planners' perceptions of eight key factors, including tangibles such as hotels and meeting facilities, and intangibles such as "easy to get to," and "great all-around convention city."

"Early on, Kansas City was barely on the lowest left-hand edge of the map," said Watkins principal Curt Watkins, of the survey's complex grid that since 1996 has ranked and depicted where each city stood in relation to its competitors. Bottom left on the grid is bad. Upper right is good.

"Ten years ago people didn't think much of Kansas City," he said. "The remarkable story of Kansas City is the traction they're getting" with the Power & Light District, Sprint Center and other new visitor attractions and amenities.

Since 2002, Kansas City has been moving steadily up and away from bottom left, and now sits in a center "average" position.

The survey data also rank cities in more traditional ways. Two years ago Kansas City was mired in the bottom third in three of the survey's eight categories, and in the middle third in the rest. This year's survey of 673 meeting planners ranked Kansas City in the middle third across the board.

The really good news, however, was that a subset of 44 respondents who were actual Kansas City convention clients ranked the city much higher, with five categories in the top third and three in the middle.

"Those are people who have been there," said Watkins, and their perceptions and word-of-mouth advertising are vital for long-term success.

On the downside, another subset of 54 prospective clients ranked Kansas City in the bottom third in four categories and in just one top tier.

Those findings delivered a mixed message to Rick Hughes, Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association president.

"The truth is that planners who experience the city really think highly of it," he said. "Our job is to convince those people who aren't yet convinced."

And Hughes contends that that's happening as more of the Power & Light District opens and more planners visit Kansas City for a firsthand look.

"Planners are just literally blown away by what's going on downtown," he said.

The survey also ranked Kansas City against key competitors. Neither city officials nor Watkins would disclose full details of that proprietary data.

But city officials did reveal where the city ranked versus the competition, but without identifying individual competitors that included Denver; St. Louis; Indianapolis; Louisville, Ky.; Austin, Texas; Minneapolis; and Nashville, Tenn.

The bad news was Kansas City continued to rank behind most of those cities on most survey issues. Regarding hotels "well suited" to handle large meetings, for instance, Kansas City two years ago ranked No. 38 among 46 cities surveyed. It moved up to No. 34 this year, but was still ranked behind six of the seven competitor cities.

The problem, said Hughes, is that Kansas City just does not work for many midsize and large conventions because downtown lacks an adequate number of hotel rooms to accommodate them within walking distance of Bartle Hall.

After a year of mounting pressure from Hughes and others, however, city officials in recent weeks have begun serious consideration of tax breaks and other public participation that that will be necessary to entice a private developer to build a 1,000-room hotel downtown.

"I wish we had it today," said Hughes.

A new hotel is likely to be three to four years in the planning and construction stage. But Hughes notes planners of big meetings typically book four to five years out.

"If you had that in place, I'd book you right now," Hughes said planners are starting to tell him. "When they see progress and planning, we'll get them."

To reach Rick Alm, call 816-234-4785 or send e-mail to ralm@kcstar.com.

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