Welcome to Cvent's Anchorage meeting planning guide. Here you'll find everything a meeting planner needs to know about Anchorage event planning and meeting planning.
A modern city surrounded by magnificent wilderness, Anchorage welcomes approximately 1.7 million visitors per year. Its unique location makes it a fantastic global crossroads. In fact, it is located a nine-hour flight from 90 percent of the industrialized world and only a three-hour flight from Seattle. Traveling by air, guests enjoy breathtaking views of snow-capped mountains and night skies lit with the phenomenal northern lights. Arrival at Ted Stephens Anchorage International is a breeze for roughly five million passengers each year.
There is no lack of tradtional venue options when it comes to the Anchorage event planning world. Once in Anchorage, visitors find that traversing the city is easy and affordable thanks to plentiful taxis and a public bus system. In spite of its northern location, Anchorage is also a wonderful place to explore on foot. With pedestrian pathways and heated sidewalks, visitors enjoy strolling through streets lined with gorgeous greenery. The city was even ranked America's number 8 Walking City by Prevention magazine.
Once downtown, planners are greeted with a wealth of sleek, modern hotel and meeting facilities to accommodate groups of all sizes. The city's Civic and Convention District is home to three spectacular facilities occupying just two city blocks. Within walking distance to over 3,000 hotel rooms, several attractions and a multitude of shopping and dining options, the district is home to Anchorage's newest meeting space, the stunning Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center. Featuring 200,000 square feet of meeting space, the center was designed to be the most significant convention facility in the far northern portion of the United States.
Just steps away, the William A. Egan Civic and Convention Center and Alaska Center for the Performing Arts also call the district home. The Egan Center features 45,000 square feet of meeting space including 22 function rooms, while the 176,000-square-foot Alaska Center for the Performing Arts offers state-of-the-art equipment for presentations and other events. To ease the travel among the Civic and Convention District's three magnificent Anchorage event venues, covered, heated walkways are set to be built to connect the facilities.
Beyond Anchorage's phenomenal traditional meeting facilities, planners can easily find a plethora of unique meeting and event facilities spread across the city. Featuring a reflecting pool and a grand marble staircase, the atrium of the Anchorage Museum makes an elegant backdrop for groups of up to 500 people. Or, host an outdoor event amidst the aromatic blooms of the Alaska Botanical Garden. Alternatively, for contemporary cuisine in one of Alaska's most highly acclaimed restaurants, smaller groups can gather in the banquet room at Anchorage's sleek Kinley's Restaurant.
The majority of Alaska's businesses and state officials are found in and around Anchorage. The resource sector is Anchorage's most prominent industry with multinational companies such as BP and ConocoPhillips having high-profile offices here. Several colleges and universities also call the city home including the University of Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Pacific University, Charter College and a campus of Wayland Baptist University.
For more information, check out the other sections of our Anchorage event planning guide.
