Tourism experts disagree on wisdom of planned convention center expansion

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8 thoughts on “Tourism experts disagree on wisdom of planned convention center expansion

  1. Convention business is our most powerful economic engine. Look ahead and take the needed risks. The industry will come back with a roar and only those cities that continued to invest in their convention infrastructure will succeed.

  2. My fear is the restaurant industry to support the return of the convention business is going to be decimated. Locals who could and would support these restaurants don’t feel safe. Somehow we need to get past this, but the leadership has no vision.

  3. Elect a new mayor and proceed ahead. One other issue to think about, what will there be to do for entertainment in downtown? Dining out of course but is there anything else to do?

    1. Walk the canal? Visit a museum? Go to a ballgame? Tour a monument? Ride a bike? Walk the cultural trail? Visit a locally owned business?

  4. This is a terrific time for the City to realize the fallacy of “building the Church for Easter Sunday service”. Indy needs to focus on more and smaller events. Size isn’t everything.

  5. Chicago, NYC, LA, Las Vegas ect, all had their humble beginnings and this is the case with Indy. One thing is for sure, if Indy doesn’t do the convention expansion or the Pan Am hotel project, major conventions have said its in their clause to leave the city if these projects don’t go forward. Its beyond me to think that other hoteliers would take the risk of losing that much convention business. This would be a long term rippling affect that would be felt by the entire downtown business district. Indy has no choice but to continue moving forward with project like these in the future considering peer city competition.

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