Greenville-Spartanburg Gaining Ground as Corporate Meeting Destination
By Jessica Genereaux
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Greenville Spartanburg is an idyllic
Southern region, a cut above so many metro areas in the U.S., consumed by frenzy
of the modern age. As a meeting destination, it’s a no-brainer for meeting
planners looking for mild year-round weather and affordable flights. Southwest
Airlines now flies here. Corporate leaders also have an abundance of hotel
venues and ample space, whether training sales staff or celebrating with team building activities
Greenville, Spartanburg or beyond.
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Photos: Top: Bike Building for kids in need is a fun, fulfilling team experience, connecting businesses with the community. Bottom: Assembling 3D-printed hands helps kids overseas who were born with symbrachydactyly, a condition in which hands are not fully formed.
Jayne Palmer, event manager for Venture Up in
Minneapolis,
home of 17 Fortune 500 Firms, says smaller venues like Greenville decrease
stress for everyone. A company devoted to building team relationships at conferences,
Venture Up has held teambuilding events
in Greenville and Spartanburg since 1983. “GSP is an easy destination,” she
says.
VIDEO: See General Electric in Greenville, Team Building with Venture Up.
Where else in the U.S. can you land at an airport, walk across the street, and rent a car? Well, in Minneapolis you can. But one thing the two cities don’t share in common is that arctic winter.
Where else in the U.S. can you land at an airport, walk across the street, and rent a car? Well, in Minneapolis you can. But one thing the two cities don’t share in common is that arctic winter.
“I’m big on Greenville because it’s warm,
hassle-free and authentic,” she says, “Greenville and Spartanburg are less
contrived than larger cities. They are low-key and underrated because they don’t
get much publicity, over Miami, Vegas or Chicago.”
Southwest Airlines, Michelin, Verizon, GE
and Fluor with offices in Greenville, have made Venture Up’s client list, and
most of them have fused their events to honor corporate
social responsibility, serving needy families in South Carolina.
According to Cvent,
a conference supplier network, Greenville has 8,500 hotel rooms and
Spartanburg has 3,500. Both locations are said to be “up and coming” destinations,
although competing with big hitters such as Vegas and Chicago is unlikely in
the future.
For now, the area retains a low-profile,
with old-fashioned southern charm and authenticity, but it won’t stay secret
for long.
"Coffee Street" lives up to its name in Historic Greenville, SC.
