With star- and diamond-studded resorts that blend seamlessly with low hills and fall foliage-covered mountains, Colorado Springs is truly a sight to behold. The rustic outdoors and elegant resorts make it a prime destination for incentive meetings, but the Broadmoor’s new trade hall will provide further opportunities for large-scale conferences as well.

Virginia Meier (MPI At Large), director of conferences and events for the National Strength and Conditioning Association, says that thus far, smaller meetings were ideal because of the lack of a convention center.

“We are only able to host our smaller events in Colorado Springs—it would be so nice if we could have a convention center someday,” she says. “But as a planner, I look for exhibit space that is adjacent to meeting space.”

The Broadmoor is currently working on a solution to this problem in a much-needed fulfillment of the conference center niche. The new trade hall is set to open in March and will add approximately 100,000 square feet of exhibit space to the already sizable area.

“With this new exhibit hall coming online, it’s going to position the Broadmoor as a true convention center-type competitor,” says Curtis Robison, director of national sales for the Broadmoor. “We now have convention center-level space and this wonderful, unique opportunity up in the mountains. We’re building and building the presence, and it’s going to be exciting to see all this come to fruition when it opens up.”

The Broadmoor is a modern expansion of the original Broadmoor Hotel, which opened in 1918. The current AAA five-diamond, five-star resort contains 310,000 square feet of event space—on and off site—and can host up to 7,000 guests. The space features an elegant, 60,000-square-foot, pillarless ballroom—the Broadmoor Hall. Adjacent to the Broadmoor Hall are 16,000-square-foot and 22,000-square-foot spaces. There is also a whopping 185,000 square feet of additional flex space throughout the rest of the property. Although the current amount of meeting space allows for large meeting incentives or networking events, the new trade hall will add even more space for exhibits.

“Before this new expansion project, there was a limit on what we could do from an exhibit standpoint. We have a lot of large space, but the way meetings are going this day and age and for the future, it’s built around the social networking aspect of the program itself,” Robison says. “Having a facility and infrastructure that allows for that person-to-person and business-to-business networking is what’s important. Even without the trade hall, this facility is designed for that.”

The Broadmoor also offers plenty of opportunities for fun activities and relaxation in the form of what Robison calls “Rocky Mountain Flare.” Guests can sign up for a two-in-one adventure by sightseeing at Seven Falls and then ziplining over them in the Soaring Adventure, or spend a day at one of the two golf courses. After all the fun, guests can visit the spa or relax at the infinity pool.

Rustic Outdoors

“The beauty of Colorado Springs is that we offer a thriving arts and culture scene, but we’re a 10-minute drive from finding a beautiful hike or place to unplug in places such as Red Rock Canyon Open Space, North Cheyenne Cañon or Cheyenne Mountain State Park,” says Kathy Reak, senior director of convention sales of the Colorado Springs CVB.

Pikes Peak—also known as “America’s Mountain”—is the inspiration for Katherine Lee Bates’ iconic poem. It is said that once Bates saw the view from atop the mountain, she was so in awe of its beauty that she immediately stopped and wrote the poem that would later become the much beloved song “America the Beautiful.”

The incredible view from Pikes Peak is still stealing breath from the most traveled adventurers today, and meeting groups are no exception. Even if you have an adventurous group, you don’t have to hike the mountain to experience its splendor. The Pikes Peak Cog Railway offers an exciting and whimsical train ride up to the tip of the mountain where guests can also peruse the gift shop. That’s far from the only train trip in the area, as Colorado Springs has multiple opportunities for train rides to one-of-a-kind sites such as the Royal Gorge.

After a whimsical train ride, groups can also feed the giraffes at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and explore the new Australia exhibit, or get “wolf kisses” and a photo op at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center. There are also plenty of opportunities to get the heart pumping with wellness opportunities such as hiking the Manitou cliff dwellings, biking, white water rafting or, for the adventurous, hiking the daunting Incline at nearby Manitou Springs.

“Our attendees love coming to Colorado Springs because of the sport culture we have,” Meier says. “The favorite for the group is the Incline. Because of who the group is the competitive nature of the Incline and your ‘best time’ makes it so much fun for them.”

Elegant Indoors

At the end of a long day out and about, groups can kick back and enjoy the finer things in life. In addition to the Broadmoor, Colorado Springs is home to multiple leisure opportunities for incentive groups due to a large number of elegant venues.

“We’re an unrivaled ‘bleisure’ destination with more than 60 area attractions and tours,” Reak says. “We specialize in small- to medium-sized meetings and work with all groups from corporate to associations.”

One of the bleisure venues is the Cheyenne Mountain Resort, a AAA four-diamond resort surrounded by the breathtaking Colorado wilderness. The meeting space is 100,000 square feet with a 2,500-square-foot reception hall that opens up to a ballroom that can hold up to 450 guests. In addition to the flex space indoors, this resort features multiple outdoor event spaces that take advantage of the natural ambiance.

This resort also provides plenty of team-building activities meant to bring groups together while providing the glue to make new skills and relationships stick: fun. The resort offers outdoor opportunities such as whitewater rafting or Jeep tours. On site, activities such as a cause-and-effect charity challenge, the Cheyenne Dauntless Dash—a customizable resort version of The Amazing Race—provide great opportunities for team building.

According to the Colorado Springs CVB, these are far from the only deluxe resorts in the area. Another example is the majestic, four-star Lodge at Flying Horse that features “Rocky Mountain Tuscan” style and class. The resort features 48 guest rooms, four independent villas and nine meeting spaces totaling about 7,500 square feet. This resort also features wellness opportunities such as a relaxing spa, multiple courts for sports and a Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course.

What’s New Around Colorado

In July, Aurora jumped to No. 33 on the Cvent “Top 50 U.S. Meeting Destinations” list, seven points ahead of last year. One of the factors that contributed to the jump was the opening of the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in December 2018. This luxury mountain resort offers 69 guest rooms and 78 breakout rooms for a total of 518,000 square feet of meeting space.

The ski town of Breckenridge is focusing on environmental sustainability with the new Treehugger Challenge. According to the Breckenridge tourism office, the premise of the new focus is being a “responsible adventurer.” With so many opportunities for adventure in Breckenridge, environmental responsibility is becoming more important to educate adventurers on keeping the environment as they found it.

Denver has plenty of meeting venues to choose from, but according to Colorado Meetings Magazine, the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater is a standout venue and has won several awards therein. The venue is situated in a natural geological amphitheater that was designed by Mother Nature herself. The meeting space is around 30,000 square feet and contains several indoor and outdoor spaces.