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 Las Cruces CVB hires new Convention Sales Manager
The Las Cruces Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) has hired a new Convention Sales Manager to assist the bureau in bringing meetings and conventions to Las Cruces.
John Bulla, the former Director of Sales for SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Las Cruces, joined the Las Cruces CVB on July 6, 2006.
“We are very pleased to have John as our new Convention Sales Manager,” said CVB Executive Director Ken Mompellier. “John comes to us already having experience in the Las Cruces meetings and conventions market which will allow him to hit the ground running.”
As Convention Sales Manager, Bulla will be working with meeting planners, government officials and corporate planners to maintain current and book new meetings and conventions into Las Cruces meeting facilities.
Prior to hiring on at the Las Cruces CVB, John spent 20 years in the automotive sales industry as a sales person, financial manager, internet manager and a general manager and was in the top 3% of salespersons nationwide for Daimler Chrysler in 2002. He also worked in the recreational vehicle market for Gulf Stream Motor Coach.
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 2006-07 Marketing Plan available online
The Las Cruces CVB 2006-07 Marketing Plan is now available in PDF format on the bureau’s website www.lascrucescvb.org. If you have any questions, please contact us at 541-2444 or by email at cvb@lascrucescvb.org. To download a copy, click here.
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Lodgers Tax up...again
Once again, Lodgers Tax collected by Las Cruces lodging facilities was up over the pervious year. Lodgers Tax collections closing the 2005-06 fiscal year were up 8.8% compared to the previous fiscal year. This is the second largest single year increase since Lodgers Tax increased 9.5% in 2001-02.
Since 2000, Lodgers Tax has increased by 31%, despite a recovering tourism industry, a sluggish economy and international terrorism and war.
"Whether it is leisure or business travel, visitors to Las Cruces continue to grow," said CVB Executive Director Ken Mompellier. “Effective sales, marketing and promotion throughout the Las Cruces tourism community has really helped to put Las Cruces on the map. I also think the new additions to our sales team will mean big things for Las Cruces' future.”
Las Cruces has also seen a slow but continued increase in the average daily rate (ADR) of many local lodging properties, helping to generate additional revenue.
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 New brochures now available
The CVB has received the newly redesigned Arts in Las Cruces brochure as well as a newly created historical brochure that focuses on the history of the Alameda and Mesquite districts. The Arts brochure - now in it’s third printing - highlights local art events as well as featuring Las Cruces art galleries, museums, performing arts and art organizations. There is also a fold out map that shows the location of galleries and museums.
The historical brochure titled - Las Cruces Historical Districts, the Heart of Las Cruces - includes a brief description of early Las Cruces eras, and also includes a map of the historical districts with the locations and descriptions of key building in the areas. The brochure also offers brief descriptions of the architecture popular in each district. For a copy of the brochures, contact the CVB at 541-2444 or cvb@lascrucescvb.org
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 CVB Receives $20,000 From New Mexico Tourism Department
The Las Cruces CVB received $20,000 from the New Mexico Tourism Department as part of their annual Cooperative Marketing program.
The funds awarded to the Las Cruces CVB will be added to the bureau’s existing marketing budget and will go to further support the Crossroads advertising campaign produced by the CVB’s advertising agency Rick Johnson & Co.
The Crossroads campaign - now entering its fifth year as the primary advertising and image campaign for the CVB - highlights Las Cruces as a cultural and historical crossroads of the Southwest, bringing together area history, attractions, events and personalities. In support, the bureau and Rick Johnson & Co. have put together a series of print ads that focus on publications in the meetings and conventions, group tour and leisure travel markets, as well as billboards targeting drive traffic along major interstates leading into southern New Mexico from Texas and Arizona.
Overall, the state awarded $1.2 million for advertising and promotions to 140 New Mexico non-profit organizations including four in Doña Ana County.
The money can be used for a variety of advertising mediums such as billboards, print, online, broadcast, along with promotional brochures, web site design and trade show participation.
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 CVB produces new Las Cruces map
The CVB had teamed up with the Map Network to produce a printed version of our popular online interactive Las Cruces map. the 11x17 full color maps feature a detailed map of Las Cruces on the front and an overview of Las Cruces on the back. The map was produced to answer the increasing demand for a local map by visitors to the CVB.
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City Council approves site for Las Cruces Center
At a recent Las Cruces City Council meeting, the City Council unanimously approved a resolution that seeks to have the Las Cruces Center built at the west end of the New Mexico State University campus. The approval came after lengthy public discussion leading to council including three amendments to the resolution. Those changes included:
Urging NMSU officials to consider identifying a site for the university's Small Farm Initiative, which had apparently been offered the same land where the proposed Las Cruces Center could be built;
That the land where the 82,000-square-foot center will be located be annexed into the city, even though NMSU will continue to own the land;
Specifying that the land is located at the southwest corner of University Avenue and Union Avenue.
The resolution now allows the City to prepare a formal request to develop a partnership with New Mexico State University to make the Las Cruces Center a reality.
If approved by the NMSU Board of Regents, the center would be built at the southwest corner of University Avenue and Union Avenue.
The civic and convention center would be on land owned by NMSU but leased to the city.
For more information contact the CVB at 541-2444 or cvb@lascrucescvb.org
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 Hilton to undergo renovations and name change
On September 30, 2006 the Hilton Las Cruces will become Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces, Las Cruces’ first luxury full-service independent hotel. Accompanying this change from a franchised hotel to an independent property will be a significant renovation as well.
The hotel will undergo improvements to the public spaces including guest-rooms, meeting rooms, exhibit spaces and exciting changes to the current restaurant Ventana and bar Las Caras. The new restaurant, Café Espana, will be reminiscent of a traditional hacienda-style cocina, serving both casual and fine dining in a vibrant, colorful atmosphere that will spill out into the hotel’s interior atrium. The new bar, Azul, will be expanded to ultimately include an outdoor seating area and will be a cosmopolitan interpretation of the high-style clubs found in Mexico and Spain.
Guest-room improvements will include new stone bathroom vanities, custom carpet, vinyl and what will soon become known as Las Cruces’ most luxurious bed! Working closely with the New Mexico Museum Foundation and in collaboration with the Foundation’s furniture manufacturers, guest-room furnishings are modeled after pieces from the Museum’s historical collection. Baroque styled headboards with hand-painted gold accents, desks adapted from the “assembly desks” that were in use at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, and furnishings done in the Spanish colonial “fraileno” or convent style can be seen through the hotel’s 203 guest-rooms. Photographs, also featured in the guest-rooms, provide an in-depth look at the culture of New Mexico through the festivities celebrated in the small villages throughout the State. These property improvements will be complete concurrent with the hotel’s change in status late fall 2006.
The decision to depart from the Hilton franchise will allow the Hotel the opportunity to have greater flexibility to make dramatic, unique improvements to the property, particularly those that reflect the history, culture and style of the city. The hotel will continue to be recognized as the premier Las Cruces community hotel. A community hotel allows for greater social interaction through community events, family and local celebrations and guest interaction.
For more information, contact the Las Cruces Hilton at 522-4300.
Article provided by the Las Cruces Hilton.
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 High-stakes Softball heads to Las Cruces
Some of the top 16 & under girls fast pitch softball teams will converge upon Las Cruces August 1-6, 2006 for the Amateur Softball Association 16 & Under Class A Western Nationals. This prestigious tournament will be attended by teams from California, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Washington, and New Mexico. About 40 teams are expected for the event. Games will be contested at the Field of Dreams Softball Complex.
Also, the New Mexico USSSA Men’s Class D State Championship will be in Las Cruces August 4-6, 2006. The second largest tourney field in the state will be in attendance for this important event. 80 teams are expected to compete for the state championship. All contests will take place at Harty Fields and Paz Park.
For more information about these or other Las Cruces sporting events, contact the CVB Sports Sales Department at 541-2444 or cvb@lascrucescvb.org.
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