Orlando once again takes top honors among the top 50 cities for meetings and events in the U.S., as calculated by technology supplier Cvent. Las Vegas holds the number-three position, while Chicago has jumped from number five last year to this year's number-two spot. Four cities cracked the top 50 for the first time: National Harbor, Md. (#26); Tucson, Ariz. (#38); Coronado, Calif. (#43), and Salt Lake City (#47). "There were a surprising number of cities that shifted in our list this year," said Bharet Malhotra, senior vice president of sales for the Cvent Supplier Network, "highlighting the competitive nature of the meetings and conventions industry, as well as the critical role that convention and visitors bureaus play in attracting events." One trend among smaller cities that moved up in the rankings this year is proximity to a major airport.
Cvent looked at nearly 5,700 U.S. cities on the Cvent Supplier Network to compile the list, tracking activity between July 2012 and June 2013. Rankings were based on several criteria:
• Unique RFP share: the number of unique requests for proposal for that particular city, divided by the total unique RFPs received across all cities;
• Total room nights share: the number of total room nights for that particular city, divided by the total room nights across all cities;
• Awarded RFP share: the number of awarded RFPs for that particular city, divided by the total awarded RFPs across all cities;
• Awarded room nights share: the number of awarded room nights in that particular city, divided by the total awarded room nights across all cities; and
• Venue share: the number of venues with more than 2,000 square feet of meeting space within that particular city, divided by the total of venues with more than 2,000 square feet of meeting space across all cities.
The top 50 cities are as follows:
| 1. | Orlando |
| 2. | Chicago |
| 3. | Las Vegas |
| 4. | Atlanta |
| 5. | San Diego |
| 6. | New York City |
| 7. | Washington, D.C. |
| 8. | Dallas |
| 9. | Miami |
| 10. | Phoenix |
| 11. | San Francisco |
| 12. | New Orleans |
| 13. | Denver |
| 14. | Nashville |
| 15. | Scottsdale, Ariz. |
| 16. | San Antonio |
| 17. | Los Angeles |
| 18. | Boston |
| 19. | Houston |
| 20. | Austin, Texas |
| 21. | Philadelphia |
| 22. | Grapevine, Texas |
| 23. | Kissimmee, Fla. |
| 24. | Seattle |
| 25. | Baltimore |
| 26. | National Harbor, Md. |
| 27. | Indianapolis |
| 28. | Tampa, Fla. |
| 29. | Rosemont, Ill. |
| 30. | Fort Worth, Texas |
| 31. | Minneapolis |
| 32. | Anaheim, Calif. |
| 33. | Charlotte, N.C. |
| 34. | Arlington, Va. |
| 35. | St. Louis |
| 36. | Fort Lauderdale |
| 37. | Irving, Texas |
| 38. | Tucson, Ariz. |
| 39. | Hollywood, Fla. |
| 40. | Portland, Ore. |
| 41. | Alexandria, Va. |
| 42. | Kansas City, Mo. |
| 43. | Coronado, Calif. |
| 44. | Carlsbad, Calif. |
| 45. | Columbus, Ohio |
| 46. | San Jose, Calif. |
| 47. | Salt Lake City |
| 48. | Long Beach, Calif. |
| 49. | Schaumburg, Ill. |
| 50. | Newport Beach, Calif. |