Top convention destinations: Orlando, Chicago, Las Vegas

Orlando, Las Vegas – and National Harbor, Md.

Those cities are among the top 50 destinations in the USA this year for meetings and corporate events, according to Cvent, a technology company that connects event planners with over 200,000 venues.

Looking at its booking data from July 2012 to June 2013, the company found that Orlando, followed by Chicago and Las Vegas were the top go-to spots. But the list also included several new entrants, such as National Harbor, Md., Coronado, Calif., and Naples, Fla.

What we see is that things shift around based on how hotels and cities invest to make the cities more attractive . . . in a very competitive market,” says Eric Eden, Cvent’s vice president of marketing.

Out-of-town corporate events and meetings slowed down during the economic downturn when companies were closely watching their purse strings, but they’ve begun to rebound in large part because they are viewed as key to networking and education, Eden says.

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