Besides the giant Little America Hotel and Resort convention center currently being built in Cheyenne, Wyoming has several other full-service convention centers throughout the state.

What impact another convention center will have on the competition is unclear, according to a local business owner.

Many hotels have meeting rooms for groups, but few offer catered meals, a full-time staff to move furniture and electronic equipment, thousands of square feet of available space and other necessities, said Pat Sweeney, owner of the Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Centre in Casper.

The Parkway Plaza is the biggest convention center in Casper and hosts annual conferences like those of the Wyoming Stockgrowers and Woolgrowers associations, Sweeney said.

"It takes a lot more staff to run a full-service establishment," he said.

Sweeney said he is a little concerned about all the hotels being built in Casper for fear that the hotel market could become saturated. For about three weeks a year, tournaments including the College National Finals Rodeo fill up the town and travelers can't find a room. But the rest of the year there are a lot of empty rooms, and hotels cost money to build.

"You can't service a debt on three weekends a year," he said.

Sweeney said when it comes to attracting large conventions, there is not much competition around the state.

With the construction of the Little America, other convention centers like the Parkway Plaza, the Snow King Resort and Jackson Lake Lodge in Jackson and the Hitching Post Inn in Cheyenne could see some of their business move to the newer facility.

The Little America could also attract conventions from Colorado and surrounding states.

Most convention centers try to attract groups from all over the country, not just from one area, said Erin Ragan, a spokeswoman for LeGrand Hart, the firm that represents the Jackson Lake Lodge. Ragan and representatives from other convention centers were either unavailable or declined to say how they thought the Little America would impact their businesses.

"Who knows what else is lurking out there," Sweeney said. "It's going to take a lot of business to fill all those rooms."

Reporter John Morgan can be reached at (307) 266-0614 or john.morgan@casperstartribune.net.