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A T R AV E L E R R E V I E W
“ We had a great year!” Reviewed by Patrick K., a TripAdvisor traveler » Buffalo, NY » March 1, 2016
VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA 2015 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW What a year! Visit Buffalo Niagara broke records in meetings bookings, media relations and more. And this is only the beginning of Buffalo’s renaissance. We can’t wait to continue promoting the rebirth of Buffalo!
Dear Friend of Tourism,
I
t’s amazing to think how the Buffalo Niagara region has changed for the better since I first arrived here two years ago. Interest in our region as a travel destination has never been greater as publications across the world covered Buffalo’s resurgence in 2015, from The New York Times to The Guardian in London and El Comercio in Lima, Peru. It’s easy to see why this interest is so high. The Queen City’s redeveloped waterfront, restored architectural gems and influx of new attractions, hotels, restaurants, breweries and distilleries are helping usher in a new chapter of the city’s history and increase the region’s value proposition to potential visitors.
This rebirth is also providing our sales department with new opportunities to attract conventions and sporting events, which brought a record $147 million in future economic impact to Erie County in 2015. VBN’s new Bring it Home initiative is appealing to Buffalonians with a tie to state or national conventions, meetings or sport tournaments to partner with us in attracting those events to our region. Conventions and sporting events secured in 2015 like the National Homeland Security Conference and World Junior Hockey Championship will only grow our reputation for stellar service and unparalleled value in future years. And a media and sales mission to the United Kingdom in conjunction with the Buffalo Bills game at Wembley Stadium last fall has planted the seed for more overseas travel writers and group tour operators to visit. VBN is already active in the international market and in 2015 attracted tour groups from as far away as Germany, Australia, China and South America, so we can’t wait to see what our London efforts bring us in future years.
It’s a new day in Buffalo.
Visit Buffalo Niagara is excited to be on the front lines of promoting this renaissance and welcoming visitors to our resurgent region. Our media relations department had a record year spreading the word about this rebirth, helping place over 230 stories around the country and the world worth over $4 million in ad equivalency value in outlets like USATODAY.com, the Toronto Star and the Associated Press. VBN’s new downtown Buffalo visitor center saw a 23.5% increase in traffic in 2015 over 2014, bolstered by monthly open house events featuring giveaways of favorite Buffalo foods like beef on weck and chicken wings. Our new website launched in early 2015 told Buffalo’s story in a fresh, innovative way, and our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages added thousands of new followers interested in the region. We continued our marketing campaign with the Niagara Tourism & Convention Corporation in the key market of Southern Ontario, and partnered with the city of Buffalo to advertise in bus shelters across New York City.
With the upcoming completion of the Martin House Complex restoration, opening of the Hotel Henry at the Richardson Olmsted Complex and ongoing developments along Buffalo’s waterfront, the opportunities to market the area to leisure travelers and meeting planners alike will only continue to grow in the coming years. The VBN team couldn’t be more thrilled to lead the charge on promoting the new Buffalo. We’ve only just begun! Very truly yours,
PATRICK J. KALER President and CEO Visit Buffalo Niagara
JUST THE FACTS: 2015 AT A GLANCE
VBN CONVENTION, SPORTS & GROUP TOUR SALES
$147 million Future economic impact
527
Conventions, meetings, amateur athletic events or group tours booked
280,108 People attended events at the Convention Center
847
sales leads
Hotel room nights booked
BUFFALO NIAGARA CONVENTION CENTER
161
Events hosted
276
Days the Center was occupied
BUFFALO NIAGARA SPORTS COMMISSION
87,614 Hotel room nights
30,000
Hotel room nights utilized due to events at the Center
168
Amateur sporting events serviced in 2015
VBN MARKETING
$ 4.1
million
Media value of out-of-town media coverage
230
Out-of-town media placements
89
Local media placements
1,322,935 YouTube views
889,000
Unique visits to the website,
1,635 YouTube subscribers
3
VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM
114,912 Attendance
171,381
2015 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW
Buffalo’s renaissance was in full swing in 2015; new hotels, attractions and restaurants helped Record transform the city. And VBN took full advantage of this renaissance! The earned media value breaking figures are in VBN’s media relations team produced grew by more than $2.5 million from 2014, a new record, red while the total number of non-local placements grew by over 100 percent. VBN’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages collectively gained more than 15,000 fans and followers in 2015. The sales team booked 527 pieces of business in 2015, up from 460 the year before. It also secured 171,381 future hotel room nights and 847 sales leads. The Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission excelled in 2015 too, servicing 168 total events that generated over 114,912 attendees and 87,614 hotel room nights.
GAINING VISITOR EXPERTISE
Reintroducing Canadians to the Queen City
Visit Buffalo Niagara worked with Young Strategies to conduct a Visitor Profile report for the destination in
Visit Buffalo Niagara, working in
hopes of learning more about
collaboration with the Niagara Tourism
our customers, identifying
& Convention Corp. with support from
need periods at our lodging
Brand USA and a CFA grant from New York
properties, developing
State, has continued the implementation of a multifaceted integrated
strategies to increase demand
marketing campaign in southern Ontario. The campaign features
and identifying opportunities
digital banner advertising, Facebook advertising, paid search, television
for improved sales and
advertising, newspaper advertising, out of home advertising, media
marketing efforts. The results
relations, social media, YouTube videos and
concluded that VBN should
e-newsletter communications.
SHOP BUFFALO NIAGARA
As of January 31st, the 2015-16 campaign
spring and fall to increase
has yielded 115,000 website visitors,
hotel occupancy. Based on
21.4 million impressions, 1.7 million
VBN’s budget, the report
engagements, 338,000 video views,
recommended that we focus
more than 19,000 new leads for our
our efforts on nearby markets
database and 860,000 emails delivered.
such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland,
The campaign concluded at the end of
Rochester, Jamestown
February 2016 and a conversion study
and Southern Ontario. The
will be available in mid-April.
information collected from this study coupled with the host of other research studies we have access to will continue to shape our efforts going forward.
Raising the Stakes on Marketing Buffalo VBN partnered with the Seneca Gaming Corporation for a second year to collaborate on marketing Buffalo throughout the surrounding region. Part of the casino’s advertising budget is now used for promoting Buffalo to consumers within a four-hour radius. The agreement has allowed VBN to market Buffalo with an enhanced frequency and reach.
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focus on need periods in the
A TRAVELER REVIEW
“Wonderful Arts & Cr afts Era
Renovation”
Reviewed by Philont heroad, a TripAdvisor traveler » Chicago IL » June 28, 2014
ROYCROFT INN “This historic inn
is across the street from the Roycroft wonderful newly Campus, which is created furniture, an active craft works lamps, and other hop with The food is top quality Arts & Crafts pieces and we enjoyed . The restaurant is a warm summer excellent. evening dinner on the porch.”
VisitBuffaloNiaga
The Nearest Farawa y Place
ra.com » 1.800.BU FFALO
A Digitally Savvy Destination Visit Buffalo Niagara continued its digital marketing efforts with guidance and execution from our digital agency, eBrains. VBN’s efforts included e-newsletter distribution to its list of 90,000 subscribers, SEO/ advertising. As of December 31st, our 2015 domestic digital campaign has yielded 102,000 website visitors, 8.7 million impressions, 454,000 engagements, 17,500 new leads and 4.3 million emails delivered. A conversion study will be available in mid-April. Employing this multifaceted strategy, eBrains delivered the following high-level metrics:
Content is King VBN made significant strides in 2015 to tell more stories about Buffalo using its own website and social media channels. The VBN staff and a team of contributing writers published more than 120 blogs about Buffalo in 2015, nearly double the total amount
8,700,000 454,000 impressions
engagements
in 2014, about everything from new restaurant
2015 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW
SEM, lead generation, Facebook cloning and display
roundups to architecture and history trivia. In addition, the VBN team employed a summer social media campaign, #Buffalove15, that yielded more
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than 6,000 photos showcasing the best of Buffalo – more than double the results of our summer 2014
website visitors
17,500 new email leads to our database
media channels through the summer months and led to the creation of a user-generated Youtube video, “This is Buffalo,” that’s garnered over 2,500 views.
BUFFALO IN LONDON With the Buffalo Bills playing an NFL game in London,
We partnered with the Buffalo Bills to hand out team
members of the sales and marketing team took
gear to our VIP guests and made our presence known in
advantage of the opportunity and traveled overseas to
London by wrapping a taxi in Buffalo branding.
meet with 50 group sales agents and a dozen media.
VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM
102,000
campaign. These photos helped power VBN’s social
Buffalo’s Hotel Boom Hoteliers are taking notice of Buffalo’s renaissance.
to the marketplace last year. Even with this influx of new
Over 550 new rooms (a 5.5% increase) came online in
rooms, occupancy still exceeded the national average for
2015, including the Marriott HarborCenter, Hyatt Place in
several months during 2015.
Amherst and Aloft Buffalo Airport. The year saw demand increase by 2.4 percent, while occupancy locally decreased slightly as a result of the increase in room inventory added
MONTHLY OCCUPANCY PERCENTAGE, 2015 90%
82.9 82.0
80%
SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH ERIE COUNTY HOTEL REPORT OCCUPANCY
2015 62.2%
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AVERAGE RATE
$101.23
70%
62.3 60% 54.4
HOTEL REVENUES
50%
$235,913,402
2014 64.1%
$99.56
$228,301,134
2013 65.4%
$101.23
$235,913,402
2012 66.4%
$93.92
$209,550,115
40%
66.8 66.8 57.3
49.3
67.3
75.3
73.9 73.1
67.5
70.8 70.7
56.8
59.4 53.0
51.4
43.9
43.1
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
ERIE COUNTY
A Record Breaking Event
69.1 67.9 66.5
NATIONAL AVERAGE
Trapping Success The National Trapper’s Association held its annual convention at the Hamburg Fairgrounds and
In April, Buffalo hosted the largest ever USA
Event Center last July, drawing 2,000 sports
Disabled Hockey Festival. The festival drew 72
vendors and enthusiasts from around the country
teams and 1,000 participants, generating an
who generated over $2.5 million in estimated
estimated economic impact of over $1 million.
economic impact.
15 IN ‘15 Below are 15 major conventions and events that came to Buffalo in 2015, in order of the most significant economic impact. NAME
ESTIMATED ECONOMIC IMPACT
DATE
ATTENDEES
New York State Board of Law Examiners
$3,901,196
July 26-29
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 Production
$3,050,200
May 3-16
450
Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ COOLJC
$2,919,032
April 6-13
2,000
NYSUT
$2,698,481
April 27-May 2
3,000
Civil Service Employees Association
$2,426,515
Oct. 3-8
1,600
American Legion, State of New York
$2,411,935
July 13-17
2,000
USA Hockey
$2,456,591
March 25-30
1,200
North American Prospects Showcase
$2,341,970
June 18-20
2,400
National Trappers Association, Inc.
$2,234,548
July 26-Aug. 2
2,000
Pepsi-Cola Invitational
$2,160,476
April 1-4
2,500
Amherst Youth Hockey
$2,159,488
March 5-7
2,000
SUNYAC Conference
$1,787,658
Feb. 18-22
200
New Era Cap
$1,466,875
July 16-18
1,750
National Conference of Catechetical Leadership – NCLL
$1,116,404
May 15-21
600
Catholic Press Association
$879,635
June 21-27
400
2,800
BRINGING IT HOME FOR BUFFALO VBN’s sales department launched the Bring It Home initiative in the fall of 2015. Bring It Home is designed to encourage
RA BAaRmBpA agna
locals with a tie to a state or national convention,
C FOR CIATION GY, THE ASSO N TECHNOLO TIO PRESERVATERNATIONAL IN
meeting or sports tournament to bring that event home to Buffalo. VBN’s sales team makes it easy for
ACT MIC IMP ECONO
00
$939,8
bring these events to the Queen City.
Home T BRING I
Sportss Meetinngts Eve
Jim Bojanowski (American Legion) and Barbara Campagna (The Association For Preservation Technology, International) are two of several Buffalonians who
KC KRATT
agreed to share their experiences about helping to bring their organization conferences here for the campaign. Bring it Home couldn’t come at a better time for Buffalo,
with the collective enthusiasm about recent
BRING IT MEETINGS, SPORTS & CONVENTIONS Buffalo seemed to make great sense on so many levels – world class architecture and preservation projects, amazing historic and cultural venues for our various
Home.
MEAN BUSINESS TO BUFFALO NIAGARA. Canadian members, and close to Toronto’s airport for our international members. We are expecting our largest conference in Buffalo – over 1,000 attendees.
events, easy to get to for our American and Help bring your association or sports event home to Buffalo. Learn more at BringItHomeBuffalo.com.
BringItHomeBuffalo.com
2015 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW
those locals by collaborating with them to
improvements and new developments here at an all-time high.
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All Roads Lead to Buffalo established relationships with some of the largest global travel
The Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission
brokers, which influences our position to gain more of the market
partnered with Indianapolis-based
share in Europe and Asia.
TSE Consulting in 2015 to create a
Buffalo’s appeal to international group tour operators continues to grow. Last year, VBN attracted tours from as far away as Australia,
master plan for expanding and growing Buffalo and Erie County as an amateur athletics destination. The TSE report, released in early 2016, made several recommendations for the Buffalo Niagara region to grow the industry over the next decade, including adding new sports facilities and updating existing ones. VBN plans to engage in dialogue with various community stakeholders over the coming year to discuss making some of those recommendations a reality.
VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM
China, the United Kingdom, South America, and Germany. VBN
CREATING A BLUEPRINT FOR SPORTS SUCCESS
New Website for the New Buffalo VBN’s online presence took on a completely different look and feel in 2015 with the launch of our new website. VBN’s goal of inspiring potential visitors was accomplished through powerful imagery and video and bringing our fresh blog content to the forefront of the site. The new website has been met with positive reviews from locals, visitors and industry peers. VBN welcomed over 889,000 users
INFORMING BUFFALO’S TOURISM INDUSTRY Visit Buffalo Niagara has ramped up its efforts to keep our hotel, restaurant and attraction partners informed about all there is to see and do within the region. VBN organized two bus tours around the city for frontline staff highlighting new developments and nightlife options around Buffalo, providing them with fresh ideas to share with visitors. In addition, a destination marketing summit held in October drew over 200 attendees to learn more about social media, storytelling, public relations and more.
to the website with plans of growing
A new newsletter, Buffalo Niagara
those numbers year over year.
This Week, gives hotel staffs and other tourism industry partners a weekly update of things to do to share with Buffalo visitors. Its subscriber base grew from 300 to 600 in its inaugural year.
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BY THE NUMBERS Tourism Insider, a quarterly newsletter about VBN initiatives 3,702 SUBSCRIBERS Travel Pulse, a monthly e-update on visitor statistics 1,274 SUBSCRIBERS
Welcoming Visitors In late 2014, Visit Buffalo Niagara moved its visitor center and
Number of VBN volunteers 2 00+ PROVIDING OVER 1,200 SERVICE HOURS
corporate offices to the Brisbane Building in Lafayette Square. That move paid off over the course of 2015, with the downtown visitor center seeing a 23.5 % increase in visitors over the previous year. A series of monthly events bolstered those numbers; VBN partnered with Perry’s Ice Cream, Charlie the Butcher, the Buffalo Bisons, the National Buffalo Wing Festival, the Erie County Fair and other community stakeholders to distribute free classic Buffalo foods like chicken wings and beef on weck and offer discounts on merchandise. Explore Buffalo also began using the visitor center as a starting point for several of its tours, further adding to the increase.
Total Visitor Center Referrals OVER
28,000
TRAV EL
TO
Hospitality and Tourism Management. Here are the 2015 honorees: P R E S E N T E D
OUTSTANDING LODGING EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
OUTSTANDING TOURISM VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
Mark Linde Buffalo Niagara Marriott
Sharon Cramer
OUTSTANDING LODGING MANAGER OF THE YEAR
OUTSTANDING TOURISM EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
Blake Bednarz Buffalo Niagara Marriott
E. Frits Abell Echo Arts Fair and Buffalo Expat Network
OUTSTANDING LODGING G.M. OF THE YEAR
B Y
Richardson Center BRING IT HOME AWARD – SPORTS
Norm Page USA Sled Hockey BRING IT HOME AWARD – CONVENTIONS
Venkat Krovi ASME
OUTSTANDING TOURISM INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR
Craft Beer Tourism
OUTSTANDING TOURISM EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
BUFFALO AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR
Sandy Starks Forest Lawn Cemetery
George Grasser and Bill Tyne CNU 22
RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Charlie Roesch Charlie the Butcher TIM RUSSERT AWARD
Russell Salvatore Russell’s/Salvatore’s Grand Hotel
The Seal of Approval Visit Buffalo Niagara received accreditation in 2015 from the Destination Marketing Association International’s Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP). The DMAP seal illustrates a destination marketing organization’s commitment to industry excellence and to raising the performance and accountability of DMOs across the tourism industry. By receiving this accreditation, VBN is committing CEO Patrick Kaler and Bring it Home-Sports winner Norm Page
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to the best practices industrywide to market Buffalo as an exciting visitor destination. VBN also received exemplary recognition for marketing innovation and its strategic plan from DMAI.
VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM
Bob Karmazyn Courtyard by Marriott Downtown
2015 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW
Visit Buffalo Niagara’s Beacon Awards, which recognize excellence in Buffalo’s tourism and hospitality industry, attracted nearly 600 attendees to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center last May. At the ceremony, VBN gave away its first $1,000 scholarship in collaboration with the Hotel/Motel Association to Melanie Ulrich, a senior from Williamsville East who is attending Niagara University’s College of
&
ISM UR
A BEACON OF EXCELLENCE
HOT OFF THE PRESS Buffalo’s media relations initiatives reached new heights in 2015. VBN hosted three dozen travel writers for press trips in 2015 and helped facilitate media coverage that led to more than 230 stories about the Queen City’s resurgence in markets as distant as the United Kingdom, Germany and Peru. Some of the prominent media outlets that VBN helped secure stories in include The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Guardian, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, USATODAY.com, Forbes.com and the Toronto Star. Collectively, the stories were worth $4.1 million in ad equivalency value, the amount the editorial coverage would have cost if it were instead sold as advertising space, as measured by BurellesLuce. That figure is also a record and up from $1.6 million in 2014 and $900,000 in 2013.
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The Center of Attention The Buffalo Niagara Convention Center (BNCC) had another successful year as Buffalo’s most expansive conference and event space. More than 281,000 people attended 161 different events over the course of the year. These events contributed more than $32 million to the local economy, based on the Association of Venue Managers calculator. Among the notable events hosted at the Center were the bi-annual New York State Board of Law Examiners bar exams, NYSUT, the National Association for Campus Activities and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. Collectively, these events led to 30,000 room night bookings at surrounding hotels. The BNCC had another stellar year of service, too, earning an impressive score of 4.76/5 on the Guest Satisfaction Survey.
300,000 161 people attended different events
WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2016
} The NHL Draft, June 20-26, 2016, will bring NHL club executives, scouts and coaches to Buffalo for several days. More than 15,000 fans and 500 print, television and radio media are expected to attend. The 2016 event will mark the third time the Sabres and the city of Buffalo have hosted the NHL Draft, and the second time the event will be at the First Niagara Center. The NHL Draft will have an economic impact of over $9.2 million. } The National Softball Association tournament Girls’ Fast Pitch World Series, July 17-22, is expecting up to 150 teams plus family
members and friends for a total of over 3,500 people generating an economic impact of over $3 million. The tournament will take place at Sunshine Park and Fireman’s Park in West Seneca and the Amherst Audubon Recreation Complex.
} The National Association of State Alcohol & Drug Abuse, Sept. 11-16, will bring over 650 attendees, requiring 1,900 hotel room nights and generating over $887,000 in economic impact. NASADAD’s basic purpose is to foster and support the development of effective alcohol and other drug abuse prevention and treatment programs throughout every state. } The New York State School Boards Association on Oct. 25-30 will bring more than 3,000 conference attendees, require over 3,700 hotel room nights and generate an economic impact of over $2.7 million. The New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) is the statewide voice for the interests of public boards of education.
2015 VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Law Offices of Francis A. Letro
Dennis P. Murphy
InnVest Lodging Services, Inc.
Donald K. Boswell
WNY Public Broadcasting Association
Minesh Patel
Adam’s Mark Hotel
Steve Boyd, Esq.
Steve Boyd, P.C.
Gary D. Praetzel, Ph.D. Niagara University
Jonathan A. Dandes
Rich Baseball Operations
Edward A. Rath, III
Erie County Legislature
Thomas Dearing
County of Erie
Mary F. Roberts
Martin House Restoration Corporation
James T. Sandoro
The Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum
Dottie Gallagher-Cohen Buffalo Niagara Partnership C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA Lesley Haynes Erie County Legislature Appointment Patrick J. Kaler
Visit Buffalo Niagara
Randall Kramer
MusicalFare Theatre
Kerry C. Mitchell
County of Erie Appointment
Paul Snyder, III, CEO Snyder Corporation Toni L. Vazquez
County of Erie Appointment
Maria Whyte
County of Erie
Leslie H. Zemsky
Larkin Square
2015 COMMITTEES Executive Committee CHAIR:
Dennis P. Murphy
InnVest Lodging Services, Inc.
TREASURER :
COMMITTEE MEMBERS CHAIR-ELECT:
Jonathan A. Dandes VICE CHAIR:
Donald K. Boswell PRESIDENT:
Patrick Kaler
SECRETARY:
Dottie Gallagher-Cohen Buffalo Niagara Partnership Mary F. Roberts
Rich Baseball Operations WNED Visit Buffalo Niagara
Martin House Restoration Corp.
COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES:
Maria Whyte Thomas Dearing
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR:
Gary D. Praetzel
County of Erie County of Erie Niagara University
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VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM
Cindy Abbott-Letro
2015 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW
} The Multiple District 20, Lions Club of New York State & Bermuda, Inc will hold its convention in Buffalo from May 11-15. The convention will bring together almost 800 attendees at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center occupying upwards of 1,000 hotel room nights for an economic impact of over $883,000. The meetings will further the Lions Club’s mission of service to people who are blind and visually-impaired.
Budget/Finance/Audit Committee CHAIR:
Mary F. Roberts
Martin House Restoration Corp
STAFF: David Marzo
Chief Financial Officer
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Steve Boyd, Esq.
Steve Boyd, P.C.
Toni Vazquez
County of Erie Appointment
Sales Committee STAFF: Mike Even
VP of Sales
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
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Phil Alterio
Buffalo Niagara Marriott
Mark Bibb
Adam’s Mark
Julie Bishop
Hyatt Place
Mark Brown
Buffalo Lodging
Melissa Burke
Buffalo Niagara Convention Center
Missy Byrne
Embassy Suites Buffalo
Wendy Clubine
Buffalo Lodging
Joyce Curry
Millenium Hotel Buffalo
Jay Dellavecchia
Hyatt Regency Buffalo
Jessica DiVita
Ramada Hotel & Conference Center
John Dubreville
Hale Northeastern
Ann Dugan
Buffalo Lodging
Amy Engler
Springhill Suites Buffalo Airport
Peter Florczak
Buffalo Niagara Marriott
Kelly Fox
Hilton Garden Inn Buffalo Downtown
Barbara Hughes
AAA
Bill Karches
Best Western Plus Inn at Lackawanna
Thomas Keane
Hart Hotels
Dave Lacki
Ellicott Development
Paul Murphy
Buffalo Niagara Convention Center
Gary Pacioni
Comfort Suites Airport
Russ Papia
The Westin Buffalo
Megan Porter
Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Airport
Nicholas Salvatore Garden Place Hotel Edwin Shelp
Adam’s Mark
Jillian Smith
Hotel @ The Lafayette
Matt Spencer
Comfort Suites
Timothy Stone
Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Downtown
Renee Stupski-Pundt Doubletree Club by Hilton Sue Walker
Hart Hotels
Cheryl Zanghi
Buffalo Marriott HarborCenter
Marketing Committee CHAIR: Leslie Zemsky
Larkin Square
STAFF: Ed Healy
VP of Marketing
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
E. Frits Abell
Impact Industries
Jim Charlier
JCharlier Communication Design
Jason Clement
The Pop-In
C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA Dana Marciniak
Delaware North Companies
Katie McKenna
University at Buffalo
Diana Principe
The Mansion on Delaware Avenue
Mary Roberts Martin House Restoration Corporation Kathleen Rooney Kathleen Rooney Communications Maria Scully-Morreale Albright-Knox Art Gallery Sara Serafin
Canalside Buffalo
James T. Sandoro Buffalo Transportation/ Pierce-Arrow Museum Zach Specht
Pegula Sports & Entertainment
Sandy White
Freelance Writer
2015 BUFFALO NIAGARA SPORTS COMMISSION ADVISORY COUNCIL CHAIR:
Rich Baseball Operations STAR Swimming Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bisons Niagara University Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation D’Youville College
Drew Cerza Just Wing It Productions Christopher Ciamaga HarborCenter Ryan Coate Spectra Therese Forton-Barnes Events to a Tee Sean Green Riverworks Kathleen Gregoire Skating Club of WNY Eric Guzdek Northtown Center at Amherst C. Douglas Hartmayer NFTA
Perry Jenkins University at Buffalo Peter Jerebko Erie Community College Leo Kaminsky NYSPHSAA John Lambert University at Buffalo John Maddock Canisius College Bill Maher Canisius College Lynn Marinelli Empire State Development Corp. Ron Raccuia AdPro Team Sports Edward Rath, Jr. Erie County Legislature Bob Schell Amherst Youth Hockey Lisa Scherer Scherer Event Management Timm Slade Section VI Charles C. Swanekamp, Esq. Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel Jennifer Van Rysdam First Niagara Center
2015 VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA STAFF Kathy Benzel
Information Technology Manager
Patrick Kaler
Michele Butlak
Accounting and Benefits Manager
Cindy Kincaide Director, Industry Relations & Destination Development
Giovanni Centurione
Information Specialist
Tracy Martell
Lindsay Carucci
Sport Services Manager
David Marzo
Chief Financial Officer
Karen Cox
Convention Services Manager
Leah Mueller
Tourism Sales Director
Linda D’Agostino
Director of Sales & Government Relations
Danielle Pastor
Administrative Assistant
Denise Drews
Visitor Center Manager
Allison Pawarski
Sports Sales and Services Manager
Michael Even
Vice President of Sales & Services
Mary Jane Poleto
Information Specialist
Karen Fashana
Director of Marketing
Judy Smith
Director of Administration
Charles Giglia
Director of Sports Sales
Matt Steinberg
Director of Creative Services
Pete Harvey
Director of Sports Development
Lori White
National Sales Director
Brian Hayden
Communications Manager
Dionne Williamson
Sales Director; Specialty Market
Ed Healy
Vice President of Marketing
President & CEO
Convention Services Manager
Melissa Bean Convention & Event Service Manager
Terry O’Brien
Operations Manager
Tom Beiter
Heather Petrino
Sales & Service Coordinator
Melissa Burke Senior Director of Sales and Marketing
Keith Pitman
Electrician
Lorna Cullen
Executive Assistant
Susan Kimmins
Sales & Catering Manager
Paul Scime
Food & Beverage Manager
MaryAnn Martin
Accounting & Benefits Manager
Raymond Thom
Executive Chef
Samuel Mendez
Assistant Operations Manager
Amy Trautman
Convention Sales Manager
Leslie Millender
Lobby Receptionist
Brooke Williams
Banquet Manager
Paul Murphy
Facility Director
Kenneth Sandford Chief Engineer
Raymond Williams Timekeeper/Security Danielle Winiarski Convention & Event Service Manager
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VISITBUFFALONIAGARA.COM
2015 BUFFALO NIAGARA CONVENTION CENTER STAFF Controller
2015 ANNUAL BUSINESS REVIEW
Jonathan A. Dandes Rick Aronberg Russ Brandon Mike Buczkowski Stephen Butler Chris Catanzaro Brian Cavanaugh
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT BUFFALO This winter, Buffalo is fully embracing its cold weather. Canalside, covering 21 acres and with 33,000 square feet of ice, is one of three downtown ice rinks that recently opened in this Rust Belt comeback city. Along with new craft breweries, food trucks and winter festivals, ice is among the new waterfront attractions that have residents and visitors enjoying the cold. THE NEW YORK TIMES
These days, Buffalo is in the midst of a postindustrial renaissance and proving itself to be a place where the American — and Canadian — dream can flourish,
especially if it involves food. ST. CATHARINES STANDARD
Buffalo should learn to boast. It’s exciting to visit a postindustrial city where you can tour the abandoned grain elevators of Silo City or explore the waterfront on water bikes. It’s refreshing to eat somewhere where trail-blazing eateries are helping to revitalize patches of the city, where hungry citizens are grateful for every new thing to eat, and where businesses are genuinely pleased to serve you. JENNIFER BAIN, THE TORONTO STAR
...THE CITY OF ‘GOOD NEIGHBORS’ IS SHEDDING ITS DECADESOLD IMAGE, AND IN THE PROCESS IS DRAWING COMPARISONS TO AUSTIN ON STEROIDS, BRIMMING WITH FUNKY CULTURE AND ART DECO ARCHITECTURE THAT
CAN LEAVE VISITORS SLACK JAWED.
USA TODAY
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