Home » Tourism & Hospitality

Tourism & Hospitality

Articles

ROSE awards ceremonies honor hospitality workers: Eleven employees commended for top-level service

After the passing of the restaurant’s general manager, “Mama” stepped into the grief-filled void, providing leadership while consoling the staff. During a charity silent auction, Camerone auctioned off herself as an inhome chef for an evening. She ended up generating the most proceeds, enough to make a dream come true for a child during the Make-a-Wish Telethon. Pamela Evans, customer service agent, American Airlines Evans is a customer service agent for American Airlines and her territory often can be among…

Read More

Red Hat Society over-50 women pursued by marketers

Members of the Red Hat Society get together monthly to celebrate life after 50, a demographic marketers often overlook. But
these women-and their spending habits-are attracting attention as the California-based club gains traction.

Read More

Mansur lands $50M midfield airport hotel

The Indianapolis Airport Authority has tapped Mansur Real Estate Services Inc. to develop a $50 million-plus Westin hotel
at the new midfield terminal. But the hotel’s final design may be one submitted by a former competitor, White Lodging Corp.
of South Bend.

Read More

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: IMA art park is a grand slam

Lest we overlook it among the rash of crimes, stock-market gyrations and General Assembly shenanigans reported in the media recently, the Indianapolis Museum of Art deserves some major kudos. Amid the chaos, the IMA announced the names of the 10 artists, artists’ groups and architects who will create works for its Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park set to open in 2009. It was a grand slam. Unveiled in New York Feb. 27, the list includes individuals or collectives…

Read More

Hotel veteran launches own firm: A Q&A with local hospitality leader Tim Worthington

While he was a student at Indiana University, Tim Worthington spent summers washing dishes, cooking breakfast and delivering room service for locally based General Hotels Corp. It was the beginning of a 31-year career that would include 14 years as president of the company. Worthington, 60, retired last February but quickly realized he wanted back in the action. So he and partner Michael Arnold, also a former employee at General Hotels and a 20-year veteran of the hotel industry, launched…

Read More

Super Bowl travel plans mix business, fun

Super Bowl XLI has become a can’t-miss event for dozens of local business executives and government honchos, who are shelling
out several thousand dollars apiece to watch the Feb. 4 game in person.

Read More

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Greetings from Indianapolis South

NAPLES, Fla.-Here I am more than 1,000 miles from Indianapolis and yet feeling right at home. Seems like everywhere I turn, there are signs of the city. The first night I was here, I ate dinner at a restaurant where six Indianapolis people I know were sitting at the table next to ours. During the course of my stay so far, American United Life Insurance Co. held a board retreat here and the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation threw a fund-raiser…

Read More

EYE ON THE PIE: Mirror, mirror, which is fairest tax of all?

With some hesitation, I take you inside the men’s rest room at the Statehouse. There, I found a new member of the General Assembly combing his hair over his otherwise empty scalp and asking, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, which is the fairest tax of all?” The mirror responded, “The sales tax is the fairest of them all.” Startled, both the legislator and I looked around, only to hear another mirror say, “No, the income tax is fairest of them…

Read More

Labor sector diversification could spur local economy: $200,000 study targets finance, retail and construction

Sexier industry sectors like life sciences or motorsports get all the press. But to remain robust, the Indianapolis Private Industry Council believes, the area economy needs diversification. The 23-year-old work-force-training not-for-profit believes the nine-county area also should target three tried-and-true industries: finance and insurance; retail, hospitality and restaurants; and construction. IPIC, whose $9 million annual budget comes from public and private grants, plans to spend $200,000 during the first quarter studying the three sectors, which collectively employ 270,000 people in…

Read More

EYE ON THE PIE: In 2007, sweat the little things

This time of the year, serious people make serious resolutions about important matters; people like me, experienced and lacking determination, avoid resolutions. If, however, I were to recommend resolutions to business and government leaders, my list could be condensed into this: Attend to the little things. For too long, we have heard the preaching of management gurus and public-policy mavens that we must keep our eyes focused on the bigger issues. If you are a decision maker, you are supposed…

Read More

Circle Truss proposed as gateway landmark

The Arch welcomes visitors to St. Louis. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge ushers in the masses. And soon the Circle Gateway
Truss could greet travelers entering downtown Indianapolis.

Read More

Stadium walkway carries $10M tab

An enclosed connector is set to be built, partly underground, that will link Lucas Oil Stadium to the soon-to-be expanded
Indiana Convention Center. It will span about a quarter of a mile and cost more than $10 million.

Read More

Residents say safety is a growing concern: Survey: Fewer feel comfortable downtown after dark

Most central Indiana residents feel safe in downtown Indianapolis when the sun is out, but remain leery of the city at night, according to a study by the IUPUI Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management. The annual study, which is designed to gauge the impact of cultural tourism on quality of life, gives the city high marks overall in areas ranging from cultural attractions to cleanliness, public transportation to parking. But it also shows the city has more work…

Read More

Cable company rolls out on-demand advertising: Comcast already has signed deal with General Motors

People don’t typically pay for on-demand cable so that they can look at advertisements, but Comcast thinks they will. It’s trying to turn an old axiom-that people avoid advertising like the plague-on its ear. The Philadelphia-based company that provides cable television in much of Marion County thinks its new on-demand advertising-launched earlier this fall-will be so popular, viewers will seek out the pitches. For Comcast digital cable subscribers, accessing on-demand ads is as easy as going to their video on-demand…

Read More

Chamber of Commerce explores casino recommendation

To shore up local government’s enormous financial shortfalls, the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce has begun investigating whether it wants to push for a downtown casino–a politically explosive idea that would face widespread opposition.

Read More

Kite, Mansur, White pitch airport hotel

Three developers are vying for the chance to build a four-story, 250- to 300-room hotel connected to the new $974 million midfield terminal and garage at the Indianapolis International Airport.

Read More

New Ambassadair owner drops dues, brings back charters

The new owner of Ambassadair travel club has eliminated membership fees and will add a flurry of charter flights in January under a plan to revive an Indianapolis institution that shuttled thousands of Hoosiers around the globe for 34 years.

Read More

IUPUI’s tourism department luring hundreds of students: City’s convention industry, program’s focus on meeting planning make department fastest growing on campus

After Kelly Sernau earned an associate in arts degree in hospitality at Michigan State University, she began researching schools that offered a bachelor’s degree in the field. She considered staying in her home state, then researched schools in Chicago and other places. Ultimately, she opted to transfer to IUPUI’s Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management within the School of Physical Education and Tourism Management. “I wanted to focus on meeting planning, [but] most programs focus on the hotel aspect…

Read More

Farming for tourists on the rise: Wine trails find followers

Whether you prefer a Chardonnay or Merlot, or you’re simply trying to recall the opening lyrics to “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” one thing is certain: Indiana wineries are hardly withering on the vine. The Hoosier State now boasts 32 wineries and should add two more by the end of fall, according to the Indiana Wine Grape Council at Purdue University. Moreover, the winemakers are helping drive the state’s fledgling agri-tourism efforts. “Nobody wants to tour a hog farm, but…

Read More