MHYP News

Denver ranks as the fifth-best convention city in the United States, according to the largest biannual survey of meeting planners in the country.

That ranking is the highest Denver has achieved in Metropoll’s survey of more than 2,000 meeting planners and is up significantly from its 14th-place ranking in 2009.

The survey involved more than 2,000 corporate and association meeting planners who organize large national meetings for 300 people or more, and it compared the 40 largest cities in the country.

“Overall, Denver is a very strong meeting destination, excelling in logistical areas, reputation, and convention center image,” said the Metropoll report.

The city of Denver was ranked tops among its 40 counterparts for its “good greening policies.” It ranked second for outdoor recreation, third for its scenery and friendly residents and fourth for its clean, attractive space and for the inexpensiveness of travelling to Denver.

The Mile High City also ranked in the top 10 in 14 of 27 attributes that looked at its reputation as a place to hold meetings. Those include being sixth in the country for having a new or expanded convention center, 10th for large trade shows and 10th for excellent hotel meeting facilities.

“This is a real tribute to the Visit Denver convention department, the city’s Arts & Venue department, SMG [the company that operates the Colorado Convention Center], the center manager, Centerplate food service, and our supportive hotels, for the great collaborative effort,” wrote Richard Scharf, Visit Denver president/CEO, in a memo to the organization’s board members.