Including Boise, Idaho, on a list of emerging destinations might be more of a misnomer these days. Rather, this state capital nestled in the Boise foothills is flexing its collective resources, establishing itself as a must-consider for meeting planners looking for that right mix of meetings and adventure.
Spend the morning with a vibrant education program at the recently expanded Boise Centre, the city’s convention center, “ride the bull” during a whitewater rafting experience on the Payette River in the afternoon and be back in time for a cozy evening event at the Old Idaho State Penitentiary.
That’s just day one. The fact is Boise has taken a thoughtful, strategic approach to developing its amenities to help elevate the city among emerging destinations for meetings and events.
“I can tell you that I came away very impressed,” says Gregory Hunt, president of the Marine Corps League Foundation, who joined a group of nearly 20 meeting planners on a visit to Boise. “The quality of the properties, the easy access downtown and the range of activities we saw makes me think Boise has quite a bit to offer.”
The city is getting its due, with accolades starting to pile up, whether it’s “Cities Getting It Right” by Time, “Top Adventure Cities” by National Geographic or “Fastest Growing Cities in the U.S.” by Forbes.
For the team at the Boise CVB, their focus has been on driving the city as a “the new meetings mecca.”
The heart of this is the Boise Centre, which recently completed a US$47.5 million expansion to increase its meeting space to about 86,000 square feet. The 31 flexible meeting rooms can handle groups of up to about 1,600.
“The changes we’ve made here at Boise Centre give us an opportunity to be more competitive for more groups,” says Ali Ribordy, director of sales. “What’s nice is that we’ve been able to maintain the charm of Boise through all this growth.”
That growth includes the addition of new hotels, bringing the total number of guest rooms in downtown the area to about 1,250. There have been recent renovations at Hotel 43 and Grove Hotel, and the historic Red Lion Downtowner is getting a $10 million overhaul and a new name—Delta by Marriott Downtowner—with changes to give meeting attendees more upgraded options.
Other hotels also offer meeting space, such as the Residence Inn City Center with 185 suites and 4,700 square feet of meeting space and the Inn at 500 Capitol, a newer boutique hotel with 109 guest rooms and 2,400 square feet of meeting space. Another property just outside the downtown area, the Riverside Hotel, offers 300 guest rooms and more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space on a picturesque location along the banks of the Boise River.
Another recent addition to the cityscape is Wheelhouse, a downtown shared workspace which opened earlier this year in the Basque Block.
It all adds up to a destination poised to have a greater draw for meetings and events. There’s a sweet spot for Boise—it’s not going after the big business in need of expansive convention centers and massive hotel space. Boise instead has found its niche by combining an expanding arsenal of space with the ability to capture imagination in its outdoor experiences.
“This is the place to come for outdoor adventure,” says Andrew Heidt, sales manager for the Boise CVB and an outdoor enthusiast who recently moved to Boise from Colorado. “I love the outdoors and I just fell in love with Boise when I came up there. We’ve got so much to offer and I think people will be surprised at how much they will enjoy Boise.”
It’s hard to argue after spending a few hours whitewater rafting down the Payette River, less than an hour drive from Boise. The cool waters were quickly forgotten during the eight-mile journey through Class III-IV rapids. Many of the rafters took turns riding the bull—sitting on the very front edge of the raft as you go through rapids. Just as the adventure began, it ended far too quickly, but not before a meal provided by the family-owned Cascade Raft & Kayak company.
Back in Boise, the city shows a diversity of activities. The Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, the only one in the U.S., includes a life-sized bronze statue of Anne Frank. The walls of the memorial contain more than 60 quotes from world leaders, and it’s one of the few locations in the world with a full Universal Declaration of Human Rights on permanent display.
The Basque Block figures prominently as an option for meeting attendees wanting to explore the city’s Basque culture. Boise has one of the largest Basque populations per capita in the U.S., as many original Basque immigrants came to Idaho in the late 1800s from the Basque Country, a region that straddles parts of northern Spain and southwestern France, to work as sheepherders.
The Basque Block preserves and celebrates the still-thriving Basque heritage with restaurants, a museum and cultural center and the Basque Market. One of the city’s largest festivals, Jaialdi, attracts a worldwide audience and takes place every five years. The next festival is in 2020.
For college football fans, Boise is home of the famed “blue turf” at Boise State University. For bird enthusiasts, there’s the World Center for Birds of Prey.
Another must-see is the Old Idaho State Penitentiary, which was built in 1870. The grounds now host tours and can accommodate events.
Photo courtesy Boise CVB.
