
Tourism experts disagree on wisdom of planned convention center expansion
Overall attendance at Indiana Convention Center events has stagnated, but annual major conventions have seen explosive growth.
Overall attendance at Indiana Convention Center events has stagnated, but annual major conventions have seen explosive growth.
Team Indiana is meant to give its members—about three dozen tourism and sports organizations across Indiana—better access to resources that will get the attention of sports governing bodies that decide where to play events.
Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, said activity has dropped to as low as 5% of typical operations, with the the facility serving only 14 of its 53 destinations.
Combined, the events were expected to draw in upwards of $35 million in revenue for local businesses, including hotels and restaurants.
State lawmakers passed legislation during the 2019 session that allowed the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, which is under Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and funded by the state budget, to become a quasi-governmental corporation as of July 1, 2020.
While the city and Kite Realty Group discuss a slower development timetable for the massive hospitality project, White Lodging said it is holding off on plans for another downtown hotel “until we figure out what’s going on at Pan Am Plaza.”
The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday overwhelmingly approved proposals to help fund the Capital Improvement Board’s long-term strategic plan, including chipping in $270 million to help fund a massive overhaul of Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The five-day NFL Combine has been hosted in Indianapolis since 1987, and efforts are underway to ensure the showcase calls the city home for the next several years.
The proposal would turn the Office of Tourism Development into the Indiana Destination Development Corp., a quasi-governmental group that could accept funding from tourism organizations.
A record 28.8 million people visited the Indianapolis in 2017, generating a $5.4 billion economic impact, according to figures released Wednesday afternoon by Visit Indy as part of its State of Tourism event.
A bill filed by Senate Appropriations Chairman Ryan Mishler would extend the life of multiple tourism- and entertainment-related taxes that help fund the Capital Improvement Board and expand the footprint of what’s known as the Professional Sports Development Area to capture even more tax revenue for the CIB. But there’s a catch.
Nearly 30 years after coming to Indianapolis to head the city’s convention efforts, Barney Levengood is retiring later this year.
The city’s tourism agency plans to ask the Marion County Capital Improvement Board of Managers for an increase in funding, but is planning a slightly smaller overall budget in 2019.
The Capital Improvement Board will seek at least $8 million from lawmakers to help fund what officials say will be a 25-year plan for improvements in the Indiana Convention Center, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and other facilities the CIB owns.
Tourism bureau Visit Indy has spent about $60,000 on advertising over the past two weeks targeting Ohio State and Northwestern fans in Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago.
Hospitality industry observers say this is far from an ideal time for Kite—a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in shopping centers—to veer outside its core business and tackle what would be a risky and colossal project that easily could cost more than $600 million.
Guest host Lindsey Erdody (in for Mason King) talks with IBJ reporters Hayleigh Colombo and Anthony Schoettle about the public-private project, the city’s convention business and what remains unknown about the Pan Am Plaza project.
The Capital Improvement Board has selected a Kite Realty Group plan from among three proposals in its effort to expand the city’s convention capacity. The CIB is expected to vote Friday to move the project forward.
Since its first iteration opened in 1972, it’s undergone four major expansions. The last one, completed in 2011, increased its size to six city blocks and more than 566,600 square feet of exhibit space—or 745,210, if you include nearby Lucas Oil Stadium.
Whether Seattle-based Gen Con and local officials can now reach an understanding on technology could spell the difference between Indianapolis’ hanging onto its most prized convention and potentially losing it to another city.