Matt Mindrum is a month into his new role and recently spoke with IBJ about his vision for the region’s growth, downtown vitality and his new insights into youth apprenticeships.
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In some ways, the work to land three Taylor Swift concerts at Lucas Oil Stadium next year began 15 years ago when country star Kenny Chesney headlined the first concert in the building a month after it opened.
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Indianapolis has been given another chance at hosting one of the major events it lost out on in the early days of the pandemic.
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Commissioned by the local organizing committee, the study generally covered a four day period from Jan. 7 to 10. It found about 56,000 people visited Indianapolis for the game, spending an average of $281 per day.
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At least 100,000 people are expected to visit Indianapolis for Monday’s solar eclipse and they should expect traffic delays, officials said Thursday. Planners advise choosing a location to watch the eclipse and staying in that spot Monday.
It’s only in the path of totality that observers will see the corona—the glowing ring of light that surrounds the blacked-out sun.
A 26-person contingent comprising state and city officials, not-for-profit leaders and business executives traveled to the tiny city-state Nov. 14-17 to study how the nation has developed land along its waterfront.
Alcoholics Anonymous holds its event every five years. Local tourism leaders pitched the sobriety group on Indianapolis in late 2022, with representatives visiting this August.
“Not a month next year is going to go by where we don’t have something significant happening in our city from a tourism perspective, whether that’s a large annual conference that’s coming back, or something new,” said Chris Gahl, executive vice president of Visit Indy.
Groups as diverse as religious denominations, state lawmakers, humanities not-for-profits and others are now gearing up to make sure hundreds, even thousands, of members have productive and gratifying visits to Indianapolis over the next several months.
Leonard Hoops has served as president and CEO of Visit Indy since 2011 and leads a team of 55-plus industry professionals who are charged with growing central Indiana’s nearly $6 billion convention, tourism and event business.
Indianapolis tourism officials say the city’s convention and events business should be almost fully recovered by the end of 2022—at least based on projections for attendance and economic impact.
The submissions—which are forerunners to formal bids—detail the city’s interesting in hosting the NFL scouting combine from 2023 to 2027 and the the draft in either 2025 or 2027.
Visit Indy has seen an uptick in the popularity of its attraction pass this summer, after the tourism group added new locations, reduced the cost and added an option to bundle the pass with hotel rooms.
The league’s decision to invite other cities to bid to host its Scouting Combine didn’t come as a surprise to local leaders, and it gave them a head start on designing a bid that could keep the Combine in town beyond 2022.
Some local museums and cultural institutions say they saw a bump in visitation over the weekend related to March Madness. Meanwhile, the attractions are playing up their basketball connections in a bid to attract visitors.
Visit Indy plans to bring in a small group of “key decision-makers” from across the United States throughout the tournament, with the goal of letting major event executives safely see Indianapolis’ capabilities.
The logistics needed to pull off the entire NCAA tournament are incredible. But Indianapolis officials tell IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey they are up to the task. So podcast host Mason King talks with Shuey about what he’s learned and what’s left to figure out.
Officials are hopeful new virus cases won’t ruin plans to host two dozen events in the first quarter of 2021—including efforts to bring the full NCAA men’s basketball tournament here.
The Sweets & Snacks Expo is expected to attract more than 13,000 attendees and generate an economic impact of $10.2 million.
Overall attendance at Indiana Convention Center events has stagnated, but annual major conventions have seen explosive growth.
Visit Indy said about $75,000 of the $1 million budgeted for the “You’ve Earned It” advertising campaign has so far been spent, generating about $400,000 in visitor spending.
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.
The tourism bureau’s 62 employees will see their work weeks cut to four days through at least April.
