Visit Albuquerque prohibits users from downloading images from our website.
Please use our media library for downloadable images and usage rights.As the days are getting longer, we’re seeing no shortage of opportunity and growth in this industry. This month signifies the beginning of the spring season, and one of the biggest months of the year for meetings, conventions and sporting events. Visit Albuquerque assisted with placing more than 30,000 rooms in the city for the month of March.
Last week several of our partners at the various media outlets noted how busy the city is and shared stories on the positive impact of those events on the city and the benefits to locals with more entertainment options.
We hope to see all of you at our upcoming Quarterly Meeting on April 4th celebrating Global Meetings Industry Day. It will be a great day celebrating meetings and events along with kicking off our peak tourism season with important updates.
As always, thank you for your continued partnership,
Tania Armenta
President & CEO
Visit Albuquerque
We encourage you to attend our upcoming Partner Orientation where the staff of the Visit ABQ Development Department will guide you through our website and provide you with valuable information on how you can take advantage of the many benefits you receive with your partnership. Orientation is a valuable tool for new partners and a great refresher for long-time partners. Although complimentary, you must register in advance as space is limited. Please call 505-222-4307 or email PartnerEvents@VisitABQ.org.
Orientations are usually held the 3rd Wednesday of the month. The next Partner Orientations are:
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
And an exception to the norm, Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Visit Albuquerque Office
20 First Plaza Galeria - Ste. 601
9:30 am - 11:00 am
Partnering with MPI-New Mexico Chapter, Albuquerque Convention Center/SMG, Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Albuquerque Innkeepers Association, Visit Albuquerque welcomes leaders come from across the meetings and events industry to celebrate Global Meetings Industry Day (#GMID19) and the importance of face-to-face meetings and events.
Join us for this wonderful luncheon with guest speakers, a Visit Albuquerque update, and a recognition of our 2019 class of Albuquerque Meeting Heroes. Reserve your spot now and encourage attendance from anyone who might be interested. Let’s show our strength in numbers!
All partners encouraged to attend.
Register at VisitABQ.org/quarterly.
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Albuquerque Convention Center
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
The deadline to register is March 27.
New to Albuquerque or the hospitality industry? Maybe you are simply looking to enhance your customer service skills. If so, join our ACE class! ACE is a three-and-a-half-hour course that explores things to do and see in the Albuquerque area as well as dos and don'ts of customer service. Cost is $25 per student. Contact 505-222-4338 or email PartnerEvents@VisitABQ.org to register. The next ACE opportunity is:
Monday, April 15, 2019
Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway Base
30 Tramway Road NE
Registration Begins: 11:45 am/Class Begins: 12:00 pm
Note: Lunch is not provided
March is a stellar month for meetings, conventions and sporting events! Visit Albuquerque assisted with placing more than 30,000 definite rooms in the city for the month of March. The American String Teachers Association, along with the National Orchestra Festival, brought over 2,300 people to the convention center from March 6-9. Several other smaller, notable meetings including the World Clown Association, Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers, and Destination Marketing Association of the West will have all contributed to the city’s occupancy by the end of the month.
In addition, the Albuquerque Sports Commission assisted with the NMAA, 2019 Boys & Girls Basketball Championships, March 12-16 at the Pit, with an estimated 4,950 attendees; Sun Country Volleyball, 2019 Bid Qualifier, March 15-17 at the Albuquerque Convention Center (ACC), with an estimated 5,280 attendees; and the USA BMX, 2019 Spring Nationals, March 15-17 at Duke City BMX, with an estimated 2,732 attendees.
On March 12 and 13, Visit Albuquerque, along with hotel partners from the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown, Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel, Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North and the Embassy Suites by Hilton Albuquerque Hotel, attended the Meetings Industry Council of Colorado educational conference and tradeshow at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. This highly attended conference is produced by the 13 member associations of the MIC of Colorado and is considered one of the premier events by meetings and events professionals in the Rocky Mountain Region and the West.
Albuquerque is the host city for the 2019 National Senior Games presented by Humana. Over 10,000 athletes, ages 50 years and older, from around the globe will be joined by over 20,000 visitors. These athletes will participate in 20 sports as they compete for the Gold!
Join the team of 3,500 volunteers for the world’s largest sporting event for athletes ages 50 and over! Learn more here, and sign up to volunteer at NSGA.com/volunteer.
Considered New Mexico’s marquee tourism industry event, featuring quality educational programs and industry networking, registration for the 2019 Governor’s Conference on Hospitality and Tourism is now open.
The conference is presented by the New Mexico Hospitality Association and is the annual statewide "how-to" for the New Mexico hospitality and tourism industry. It features incredible keynote speakers and breakout sessions designed to help you run your travel and tourism businesses more efficiently and effectively.
Over the course of the two-day conference, you have the opportunity to attend presentations, panel discussions and demonstrations from three educational tracks: hotel & tourism sales, tourism development, and hotel & tourism marketing. Each track will feature four breakout sessions to provide you with a wealth of knowledge from industry experts to help you better excel in your career and help drive visitors to your property or destination.
The New Mexico Tourism Department (NMTD) is requesting proposals for various projects to continue growing tourism in the state. Projects include:
Find details on each project and more information on submitting a proposal on NMTD’s industry-facing website. Click here for more information.
The New Mexico United soccer team officially kicked off its inaugural season this month and succeeded in selling out Isotopes Park, officially taking the lead and setting the gold standard with its record-breaking first game sellout attendance of more than 12,000 tickets.
Officially unveiled as an expansion club in the summer of 2018, New Mexico United will play in the United Soccer League Championship league (USL), which occupies the second tier of the U.S. soccer pyramid under Major League Soccer (MLS). As part of a rapidly expanding soccer landscape in the U.S., United will join 35 other teams in the league.
New Mexico has officially landed a new hockey team, the New Mexico Ice Wolves. The new team, owned by broadcast mogul Stan Hubbard, will compete in the South Division beginning in 2019-2020 and play at the Outpost Ice Arenas.
Hubbard acquired the Outpost Ice Arenas in August and invested $2 million in renovations in preparation for the team's inaugural season, according to a release.
The City of Albuquerque has launched a new initiative to help individual artists, working in all mediums, to overcome roadblocks they may be facing in their professional success. Mayor Tim Keller’s goal is to institutionalize a support system through the “Tipping Points for Creatives” program, a joint effort between the City’s Albuquerque’s Economic Development and Cultural Services departments.
Through the new program, artists will help determine the course through their feedback. The current survey is available online at cultureabq.com and responses are due by Sunday, March 31. The answers to the survey will lead to a series of group discussions and meetings this spring.
March is Women's History Month, the nationally designated month commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. Visit Albuquerque encourages you to celebrate this month by supporting the many female-owned businesses throughout the city. We’ve put together a blog post celebrating just a few of the accomplished, inspiring female business owners throughout the community. Read the full article here and share some of your favorite local woman-owned businesses with us on our social media channels.
Marble Brewery hosts Service Industry Nights at all locations for all employees in the local service industry, every Monday night. The brewery is offering an opportunity for all of the hard-working service industry employees to be served, after long hours serving others. See the Marble Brewery events page for more information, and encourage all of your service employees to enjoy the specials and discounts.
Visit Albuquerque offers partners the opportunity to advertise in our consumer e-newsletter that is sent monthly to over 130,000 opt-in email addresses.
This monthly email has spots for three featured listings on a first come, first served basis. Participation is limited to lodging, visitor activity & attraction, dining and event partners within a 30-mile radius of Albuquerque and area pueblos within a 60-mile radius of Albuquerque.
The cost to participate is only $250 per ad per month.
Material Specifications:
Image: 1 horizontal photograph (logos and photos with text overlay will not be accepted) 173 pixels x 110 pixels (we can size for you)
Title: 40 - 60 characters (including spaces)
Description: 180 - 200 (characters including spaces)
URL: Page on your website that you would like to link to
Text: Creative messaging that offers a special or package receives more clicks than brand messaging
Visit Albuquerque may edit your text but will get your approval before sending.
Dates Available | Distribution Date | Material Deadlines |
---|---|---|
May 2019 | May 8-11, 2019 | April 22, 2019 |
June 2019 | June 5-8, 2019 | May 20, 2019 |
To take advantage of this opportunity, contact 222-4310 or advertise@visitabq.org.
Visit Albuquerque is once again a game sponsor for the 9th Annual Hospitality Games, hosted by the Greater Albuquerque Innkeepers Association (GAIA). The event takes place this Friday, March 22, 2019 from 2-5 pm at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
The purpose of the Hospitality Games is to bring members of the hospitality industry together to compete in a variety of industry-related games designed to create friendly competition and camaraderie. The Hospitality Games are held to draw attention to the hospitality industry and the contribution it makes to the community. The Hospitality Games are conducted with the spirit of harmony, fair play and safety in mind at all times.
100% of the funds earned from this event will benefit the Greater Albuquerque Innkeepers Association’s scholarship fund.
There are three ways to become involved:
Help us celebrate the Hospitality Industry!
Here at Visit Albuquerque, we’re always developing new marketing initiatives and we want to talk about you! As we jump into the Spring, we’re collecting as much information as possible so we can share what’s new in ABQ in 2019.
Do you have an upcoming anniversary? Did you just remodel? New name? New tour? New feature? New photos or videos? New concept? New specialty dish? Have you moved, or are about to? Grand opening? Send anything and everything to Media@VisitABQ.org.
Check out VisitABQ.org/GoodNews for this season's biggest stories about ABQ.
Local
» KOAT - Special events lead to thousands of visitors ahead of official tourism season
National
» Travel Channel - The 10 Best 2019 Budget Travel Destinations
» Oyster.com - 9 of the Best Long Weekend Getaways in the U.S.
» Reader’s Digest - These Are the 15 Healthiest Cities in America
» Forbes - Breaking Bad And Better Call Saul Fans Head To This Iconic Spot When Visiting ABQ
» Smart Meetings - New Mexico: Taking Wow to a New Level
The Turquoise Museum will be celebrating their grand opening at their new, downtown location on Saturday, April 6, 2019. The museum will now feature 8,500 square feet of artifacts and exhibits at the iconic downtown castle. Congratulations to the Turquoise Museum on the new space!
The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Established in 1969, the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is a Smithsonian Affiliate and the only congressionally chartered museum in the nuclear field.
The museum is excited to celebrate its 50th anniversary through numerous special events including the Einstein Gala, to be held on Saturday, March 23 at Sandia Resort & Casino.
Six local breweries recently raised thousands of dollars for the victims of a deadly wildfire in California. Marble Brewery led the charge as one of six New Mexico breweries to take a Sierra Nevada recipe and make a specialty brew called Resilience IPA. One hundred percent of the proceeds went to the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund. The breweries donated the proceeds earlier this month, totaling more than $22,000.
Join us Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at Isleta Resort for Educational Roundtables 2-3:45 pm and Expo 4-8 PM. EXHIB-IT!’s B2B Expo is New Mexico’s premier Expo and networking event. The event’s mission is to foster economic development by creating a prosperous learning environment through a network of leaders. Want to Exhibit? Sign up for a Booth Space as space is limited. Tickets are on Sale Now! To find out more about the B2B Expo visit http://b2bexponm.com/.
Spring into Yucca Art Gallery as we host “Nature’s Garden Art Party.” Featured artists Karen Jacobs, Alcohol Painting, Julie Medow, painted cutting boards and Emily Holcomb, custom jewelry will exhibit Spring-inspired creations. Enlightening conversation, unique art, refreshments and gift drawing.
April 5, 5pm – 7pm
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