Indy convention industry bouncing back from pandemic shutdown
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6/7/2021 Conventions coming back to Indianapolis after COVID-19 panemic shutdown
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WATCH LIVE / FOX59 NewsPoint at Eleven
NEWS
Indy convention industry bouncing back from
pandemic shutdown
by: Russ McQuaid ✕
Posted: May 18, 2021 / 08:26 PM EDT / Updated: May 18, 2021 / 08:29 PM EDT
INDIANAPOLIS — Visit Indy Vice President Chris Gahl just came off a good week
working the phones and trying to convince convention
79.99 and meeting
199.99 planners to
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6/7/2021 Conventions coming back to Indianapolis after COVID-19 panemic shutdown
come back to Indianapolis after the COIVD-19 pandemic shutdown.
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“Last week alone Visit Indy booked $50 million worth of future convention business.
That business is on our books starting in 2021 until 2031, and so there is a hunger
among event organizers, major sporting events, corporations, major associations
coast-to-coast picking up the phone and prospecting cities and they’re picking Indy
because of that track record.”
That track record shows Indianapolis hosted 50 live events and 230,000 visitors in
the last year as the convention industry slowly recovered while the tourism trade
overall slumped across the country due to pandemic restrictions.
“We’re getting new bookings that have never considered Indianapolis for a couple
different reasons,” said Gahl. “One, the proof of concept that we can bring people
safely into the city and meet in a meaningful way. Two is the fact that March
Madness did cast a light on Indianapolis in a positive way. We know that there was
more than $25 million worth of media exposure about Indianapolis as a host city
inevitably has turned convention planners’ attention to Indianapolis.”
Gahl said one of those convention planners made the recent decision to pick
Indianapolis over Orlando for a 2022 conference partially based on the coverage the
city received during the just passed NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament.
During the last good year for the convention and visitor business in Indianapolis,
2019 tourism spending had a $5.6 billion economic impact locally and employed
83,000 people.
A volleyball tournament attracted 15,000 participants and observers to all eleven
exhibition halls of the Indiana Convention Center this past weekend and in the
coming weeks, Visit Indy will launch its “Find Your Pace” ad campaign in markets
throughout the Midwest region to encourage weekend visitors looking to get out for
✕
short vacations after spending more than a year at home due to the pandemic.
“Two major wins that put Indianapolis ahead of the pack in terms of hosting
conventions and keeping tourism healthy,” said
79.99 Gahl. “The
199.99first is the Capital
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6/7/2021 Conventions coming back to Indianapolis after COVID-19 panemic shutdown
Improvement Board and the Indiana Convention Center swiftly closed the doors of
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the convention center itself. Number two, they invested $7 million in new health and
safety upgrades. Visit Indy could take those facts, that we’re closed, that we’re
keeping it sealed off and safe, as we look back, that $7 million investment in new
health and safety upgrades inside that building was a key calling card, a key message
that we used to invite these conventions to come back inside to test the grounds of
Indianapolis for their meetings and convention, each one of them a proof of concept
ultimately giving confidence to our friends here in Indianapolis and at the NCAA.”
Despite the pandemic, construction continued on several new downtown hotels and
expansion plans for the convention center and headquarters hotel on the Pan Am
Plaza site moved forward.
“We’re seeing more and more lights flicker on in businesses, attractions, hotels, they
might have turned their lights on in time for March Madness but had a question
mark whether they could sustain,” said Gahl. “We know that many of our restaurants,
because they’re back online, are seeking workers to come and help with shifts
because there’s that demand, and as we emerge from the pandemic, there’s not only
convention tourism, there’s leisure tourism.”
The lights are slowly coming back on at the former Ram Restaurant now taken over
by Goodwood Brewing and Spirits at 140 South Illinois Street.
“Indianapolis has always been a progressive city, very business-friendly city,” said
Goodwood Chairman & CEO Ted Mitzlaff. “Not only do we have convention
business, you’ve got Lucas Oil Stadium, you’ve got basketball, all within a stone’s
throw from here. It’s a great town, it’s a great mix of local support with a
tremendous amount of tourism.”
Mitzlaff said he expects to hire 80 people to staff the restaurant’s opening day on
July 5th. ✕
“We’ve had people reaching out to us telling us what a great spot this is from the
convention standpoint,” he said. “We’ve been in here working multiple times and had
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6/7/2021 Conventions coming back to Indianapolis after COVID-19 panemic shutdown
people walk in that thought that we were open and were here from conventions so
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we’re very excited to take advantage of that.”
Mitzlaff operates three Goodwood restaurants in Kentucky.
I asked him who he would cheer for should UK play IU at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
next season.
“I’ll pull for whoever’s drinking the most beer,” he said. “I’m a Louisville fan, so it’s all
good to me.”
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