Spotlight On: Butch Spyridon, CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp

Spotlight On: Butch Spyridon, CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp

2022-11-03T11:22:35-04:00November 3rd, 2022|Economy, Nashville, Spotlight On, Tourism|

2 min read November 2022 — Butch Spyridon, CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, spoke with Invest: about the recent highlights for his organization in the last 12 months and the current state of the tourism and hospitality industries. Additionally, he discussed best marketing strategies to continue to attract people to the region and his outlook for the next two to three years.

Over the last 12 months, what have been the primary highlights for Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp?

We closed out fiscal year 2022 as the best year the city has seen. We’re not thinking about recovery anymore. We’re strictly focused on how we absorb new hotel inventory and how we continue our momentum. These past two summers, nearly all of our big events have come from national and international television, such as the CMA Music Festival and the NASCAR Cup. They are all big events that drive revenue and show the city in a different light. We find that to be valuable because it keeps us above the competition. We also have the second highest hotel development in the pipeline behind New York, and we’re six months away from the airport finishing up their phase one multi billion dollar expansion.

How do hotels help to bring in new business to the area?

The hotels that are in the development pipeline have helped fill the void in our high end hotel offerings. Having this inventory of hotels helps us attract the corporate market. The growth trajectory is strong, and the future is bright.

How does your organization work to promote the ‘brand’ of Music City?

Nashville doesn’t have mountains, beaches, casinos or a theme park. We worked hard on developing the Music City brand. It’s not just a nickname, logo or slogan. We live the music brand and we expand on it. We use big events to create more demand and awareness. During July 4, we had country, Americana, pop and reggae. In all of our events, we work hard to demonstrate the depth of talent in this town. The key to all of this is changing the perception that Nashville is only country music, and I believe we have done a good job in overcoming that. 

What do you believe is the best marketing strategy to attract more people to visit Nashville?

If people have a good experience, they share it. It’s been the best marketing technique, and it has paid off for us. We work hard on customer service. If we find out there’s an incident of any kind, we will find a way to solve it and make it right, even if it involves only one individual. 

We never take for granted our ranking as a friendliest city in the country, and that recognition is one of the things I am most proud of. 

How is your organization helping to mitigate the challenges of workforce shortage in the service industry?

It’s slowly improving, however, we’re still not at full employment. We’re putting up posters for hotels and restaurants to remind customers to be patient. We’re all affected by labor shortages, and it will affect service timing. People need to be mindful and patient. We have an employee dedicated full time to workforce issues, host industry job fairs, recruit at colleges, help high schools with their industry curriculum and have an industry jobs board called Hospitality Works.

How do you see Nashville’s convention industry performing in the near term?

That sector is still in recovery mode. In order to assess the market, you need to start with leads. If we don’t receive any leads, we’re not going to get the business. Our lead production is up 119% over FY21. However, the average size of the group has decreased by 16% since FY19.  Right now, our conversion rate is about 25%, slightly below the FY19 rate.  If we can get that closing rate back on track, we should start seeing it return to strength. However, we look pretty good right now, especially from what was already in the books. What we’ve seen is that the trade associations, such as steel and technology, all look great. We’re bullish on where we stand.

What’s your outlook for hospitality and tourism in Nashville over the next two to three years?

If the recession doesn’t hit hard, we are poised to stay right where we are. If the recession does do damage, it will knock out some corporate meetings, which makes the association market that much more important. For associations, meetings are their second largest revenue strand, so they need to push forward. Corporate is more lucrative and association is more stable, and as of right now, association seems to be the most important market. Leisure has already come back strong, and we expect that momentum to continue given our great attractions, growing hotel supply and upcoming major events – from holiday events and our free New Year’s Eve concert this winter to SEC basketball in March 2023 and then CMA Fest and the city’s free fireworks show and concert in the summer. 

For more information, visit:

https://www.visitmusiccity.com/about-nashville-convention-visitors-corp 

Share This Story!