MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World
1: What attracted you to the hospitality industry as a career?
Initially, I didn't pursue a career in hospitality. In my early 20s, I wanted to move to New York City and needed a job. I started working at The Stanhope, a boutique hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I had a great boss who mentored and taught me the industry. The more I learned and understood about the industry, the more I enjoyed it. Even to this day, I continually learn new things, which keeps my career interesting and exciting. I never have the same day twice, which makes it enjoyable to come to work.
2: What is the annual economic impact of the hotel and motel industry in the Tulsa area?
The hospitality industry represents over 140 hotels in the area, with more than 28,000 employees and 13,000 rooms. The economic impact of the travel industry in the state is $1.5 billion.
The annual lodging revenue in metro Tulsa is an estimated $171 million, according to a Smith Travel Research report from 2010. The economic impact is greater in terms of jobs, traveler expenditures, transportation, etc. Without these expenditures from visitors, each Tulsa household would have to pay an additional $380 annually in taxes to maintain the current level of tax receipts.
3: What are the biggest challenges for hotel owners these days?
The economy. Travel is seen not as a necessity and typically is the first expense to cut - professional and personal - in down economies. We're starting to rebound slightly, but we're still not back to pre-recession levels.
4: How is Tulsa doing as far as attracting convention and visitor business? What would help the area do better?
Tulsa is lagging behind our regional competitors, such as Oklahoma City, Wichita, Little Rock and Memphis, in attracting convention business. While Tulsa has great facilities - the Cox Business Center, BOK Center and Expo Square - to accommodate, we lack the necessary funding to our Convention and Visitors Bureau, named VisitTulsa, to properly market and provide incentives compared to that of our neighboring competitors. In some cases, our budget is a third of these other markets.
To help, the portion of the hotel occupancy tax that was used to fund the renovation of the Tulsa Convention Center, which is expiring in 2014, could be allocated towards increasing VisitTulsa's funding, which would close the gap on our competitors and allow us to be more competitive in the convention market. This is a position that MTH&LA supports. The hotel occupancy tax is earmarked for promoting tourism.
5: Downtown Tulsa has been enjoying a lot of development lately, including several new hotels. Does the central business district still need more rooms?
That's a catch-22. Currently, there are approximately 1,400 rooms in downtown Tulsa, which may be enough to attract small-to-medium-size conventions. If we were able to obtain the increased funding for VisitTulsa, as I've mentioned, then we would also need a large convention hotel with 500-700 rooms in order to attract the larger conventions.
Even with the increased funding and convention hotel, there would be some lean years at the start, as most conventions book three to five years in advance.
Besides attracting conventions, it's encouraging to see a revitalized downtown and an increased demand in business travel. A strong, vibrant core helps the entire city grow.
Jeff Keeley is general manager of the Hyatt Regency Tulsa and president of the Metro Tulsa Hotel and Lodging Association. He has overseen the management of several hotels, including the opening of two in Tulsa - Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn. Keeley attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and has served as a Big Brothers/Big Sisters volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House and on the Tulsa Community College Advisory Board. He resides in Tulsa with his wife and daughter.
Original Print Headline: Competing for hospitality money
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