The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association said Friday morning that it booked nearly 735,000 hotel-room nights
in 2011 for conventions and meetings, a 13-percent increase from 2010.
As part of the increase in hotel sales, ICVA booked 48 citywide conventions, up from 44 in 2010. A citywide convention uses
Indiana Convention Center space and at least two hotels for overnight accommodations. Room nights booked during the year typically
are for conventions scheduled several years in the future.
Business secured in 2011 should generate an estimated economic impact of $650 million, ICVA said.
The city exceeded its sales goal for the year by 10,000 room nights. Midway through 2011,
ICVA CEO Leonard Hoops called the goal aggressive and said the group was far short of the pace needed to meet the goal.
ICVA booked 650,000 room nights in 2010.
New conventions that signed commitments in 2011 include the Kiwanis International Annual Convention in 2015, National Safety
Council’s Annual Congress & Expo in 2019 and Seventh-day Adventists International Conference in 2020.
ICVA also signed extensions for several major conventions, including Fire Department Instructors Conference, Gen Con, and
Do it Best Corp.
Booking efforts were helped by a $275 million addition to the Indiana Convention Center that opened in February and added
350,000 square feet of exhibit space to the center.

















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smoking ban and RTW asap. If those conventioneers smell a whiff of smoke, or
those pesky hotel workers get their wages up
to $7.60/hr, GAME OVER.
Hope ICVA has a crack team dedicated to supporting the needs of the 5,000 international media coming to town that will be telling stories of Indianapolis to the world.
Time will tell if the ICVA sales team is up to the task and are successful in aiming higher and landing new high and low profile events.
Keep in mind the goal is to reach 850,000 by 2015.
If those goals arenât met, the city will have difficulty paying to operate the expanded facility.
http://www.ibj.com/openings-launch-new-era-for-indianapolis-tourism/PARAMS/article/31573