Dec. 16--Bellevue's failure to attract big conventions has taken its toll on the East King County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which has lost nearly a third of its budget and half of its employees this year as a result. 

The bureau has quit trying to bring big national gatherings to the publicly owned Meydenbauer Center until tourism conditions improve. 

When the year began, the Meydenbauer board cut $200,629 from its contract with the bureau. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the bureau lost another $159,000 in memberships and advertising fees as tourism slumped. The bureau staff was reduced from 13 people to seven. 

Beneath the numbers are some troubling issues for the downtown Bellevue economy. 

A proposed expansion of the 8-year-old Meydenbauer Center has stalled, leaving the center too small for some events. Meanwhile, other convention centers such as Spokane's are all fighting for the same clientele. 

Meydenbauer officials have hired a consultant to determine whether the center should do its own marketing instead of using the bureau. 

That would leave a downsized visitors bureau to focus on publicizing the Eastside's scenery, restaurants, shopping and wineries, but not the high-profile convention trade. 

The bureau almost folded this month but was saved by a $110,000 bailout from Bellevue, the Port of Seattle and King County. Without that cash, the bureau might have become little more than a distribution center for brochures. 

President Jim Pearman said he is optimistic about 2002. 

"I can't imagine next year being any tougher than this one," he said. 

Conventions in the Meydenbauer Center have declined from 29 in 1999 to 21 last year, and 19 so far this year. Only 17 are expected next year -- a three-year fall of 41 percent. 

Bob Wallace, chairman of the convention center's board, placed part of the blame on the bureau. 

"In terms of promoting conventions, which is the bread and butter of our facility, they're continuing to do an abysmal job," Wallace said. He said rapid staff turnover at the agency has contributed to it missing its goals for convention volume and overnight hotel stays. 

Under this year's contract, the bureau must book 18 repeat conventions. So far, it has secured 15, Pearman said. 

The Meydenbauer is a "midsized" center that typically draws 1,400 to 1,600 people to an event, said spokeswoman Sharon Linton. 

Bellevue competes with Spokane, the downtown Seattle Westin and Sheraton hotels, and to some extent, the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle. A new center in Tacoma will open in 2004. 

The state convention center, which recently expanded, has seen a gradual increase from 33 conventions in the year that ended in June 1999 to an expected 38 for the year ending June 2002. The Sheraton's sales director, Jerri Lane, said business has been "pretty flat" since 1999 and will remain so for another year. 

One problem with the Meydenbauer Center is that it does not have a headquarters hotel next door, so delegates have to walk a few blocks or ride shuttle buses. 

And prior to Sept. 11, the room supply was so tight that some convention planners were unable to find discounted room blocks. Business travelers paid up to $189 a night in the Bellevue Hilton and up to $275 in the Hyatt, compared to convention rates of $100 and $170, respectively, hotel representatives said. The Washington State School Directors Association moved its 2001 and 2003 meetings to Spokane to save delegates about $40 a night in room charges. 

To make up for sagging convention business, Meydenbauer officials are filling space with local meetings, job shows, trade fairs and banquets. 

At the start of 2001, the Meydenbauer board -- which controls the bureau's supply of Bellevue hotel-motel tax money -- reduced its contribution from $433,534 last year to $232,905 this year, in a bureau budget of $877,922. Negotiations on a 2002 contract are under way this month. 

Pearman, with two decades in the hospitality business, took over the bureau three years ago. He has won praise for his efforts to encourage Eastside tourism by packaging the area as a distinct, fun-filled destination. One example is the Eastside Dining Guide, co-sponsored by American Express and mailed to 16,000 cardholders. Another example is the cruise ships that have made occasional stops on the Kirkland waterfront. 

"I think there's been a huge, huge improvement in the last three years under Jim's leadership," said Suzanne Earler, sales director for the Salish Lodge and Spa at Snoqualmie Falls. 

Pearman brought Japanese travel agents and writers through the Eastside on Dec. 5, stopping at the falls. The bureau's "Eastside Outdoor Adventure Guide" shows the lodge and falls on the cover. Earler said she is seeing more travelers renting cars to visit the Eastside. 

The bureau is also working with organizers of the NEC Invitational World Golf Championships next year, at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, which should generate 6,500 room-nights in hotels, Pearman said. 

Though the Bellevue City Council voted Nov. 26 to contribute $50,000, some city officials are reluctant to raid the general fund to assist the bureau; the bailout was approved in a 4-2 vote. 

Eventually, a tougher decision awaits the city about a proposed $50 million expansion of the Meydenbauer -- something proponents consider a necessary gamble if Bellevue hopes to stay competitive. 

An Eastside developer, Schnitzer Northwest, continues to work on plans for a 500- to 600-room hotel, restaurant and office complex next door, but there is no construction date yet. 

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(c) 2001, The Seattle Times. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.