Why do organizations skip Peoria and choose other cities to host their conventions?

The reasons were revealed by Sami Qureshi on WTVP’s public affairs program “At Issue” Thursday night. He should know. He’s the Holiday Inn City Centre’s General Manager, President of the Heart of Illinois Hospitality Association, and Secretary/Treasurer of the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. He’s talked to convention organizers and read the PACVB’s lost business surveys.

Based on those primary sources, Qureshi says the number one reason Peoria is bypassed is because of the Peoria Civic Center’s rate structure. The number two reason is limited air service. The main reason is not, he says, due to a lack of quality hotel rooms.

Gary Matthews, the hotel developer who hopes to turn the Pere Marquette into a Marriott and connect it to the Civic Center with the help of $37 million in municipal (i.e., taxpayer-backed) bonds, disagreed with Qureshi. Matthews said that Marriott officials told him the Peoria Civic Center’s rates are perfectly fine. Qureshi countered that he wasn’t stating his opinion, but is just repeating what actual organizers who actually said “no” to Peoria had told him.

Qureshi and Matthews were on “At Issue” along with Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis and Holiday Inn City Centre owner Bruce Kinseth to talk about the “Wonderful Development” and its ramifications. There was also a prerecorded clip of Mark Twain Hotel owner and former Peoria mayor Lowell “Bud” Grieves explaining his alternative proposal. The episode will be replayed Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on WTVP, channel 47.