Leonard Hoops is the third CEO of the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association in three years—not ideal in an industry where it often takes three to five years to consummate a deal and as long as a decade to plan and build infrastructure
The Capital Improvement Board, which runs the Indiana Convention Center and the city’s professional sports venues, had hoped to get an exemption to Senate Bill 292, which pre-empts local governments from creating their own rules about where people can carry guns.
The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association has hired Leonard Hoops, executive vice president for the San Francisco Travel Association, to replace Don Welsh as its new president and CEO.
The massive powersports convention is one of the biggest annual events hosted by the city and is the first to use the expanded Indiana Convention Center since a $275 addition was completed.
The recently expanded Indiana Convention Center gives Indianapolis more space than Denver, but Denver has more hotel rooms and a larger budget.
Tourism honchos outline aggressive goals for 2011, including increasing hotel room nights for conventions from 650,000 to 725,000, and targeting leisure travelers from Chicago and the United Kingdom.
Republican Sen. Mike Delph of Carmel said it makes sense to start school after Labor Day because families would have more summer vacation time together.
Large conventions typically get the most attention, but it’s the smaller meetings that will be critical to ensuring the expanded Indiana Convention Center is adequately occupied.
Three hospitality industry executives are holding down the fort as the ICVA board searches for a new leader to replace outgoing CEO Don Welsh. Directors are on no timetable to name a replacement.
Don Welsh was seen as a revolutionary force as CEO of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association. Now he may be one of its biggest competitors as he takes the top job in Chicago.
Don Welsh, the top executive at the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association since 2008, is leaving the city to take the job as CEO of the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, the ICVA announced Monday night.
Weak economy blamed for 5-percent decline. With Indiana Convention Center expansion set to be complete this month, booking should be on the rise.
Capital Improvement Board plans to spend about $2.6 million to replace 370,000 square feet of carpeting in the older portion of the Indiana Convention Center to match the carpet in the new addition.
Indianapolis and Milwaukee are about the same size, with 1.7 million and 1.6 million people in their respective metro areas, but Indianapolis’ convention trade is better developed.
Six months into a $750,000 plan to increase Hendricks County’s profile as a tourist destination, officials say group travel has doubled and hotel occupancy is up almost 3 percentage points—before an end-of-the-year push to get travelers to “Spend the Holidays in Hendricks County.”
Officials for Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown said a $400,000 enclosed connector linking the hotel to the convention center will be done in February.
Local organizers expect the 2012 Super Bowl to be played as scheduled, despite growing concerns that an NFL work stoppage could force postponement or cancellation of the game.
Gen Con Indy runs Thursday through Sunday at the Indiana Convention Center. It’s in its 42nd year.
Indianapolis and Kansas City, a metro area with feet in both Missouri and Kansas, are not only similar demographically, but
the cities' convention and tourism trades have some measures in common, like number of annual visitors.
An agreement with the International Motorsports Industry Show will keep it in the city indefinitely. Attendance for the three-day
December convention is expected to top 20,000.
