City guns for growth in convention market

Despite signs of a softening economy. the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors' Association said it is bolstered by the city's growing reputation as a premier convention destination and by the $230 million impact expected from this year's top 20 bookings.

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The ICVA has also pinned its hopes on the $103 million Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel, set to open Feb. 26. which will nudge the number of downtown hotel rooms over 5,000.

Local Marriott officials have confirmed the 615-room hotel, owned by a local private consortium, has already booked 10 months of business - 70 percent of that from conventions.

While it wants to toast what looks to be a successful year on paper, the ICVA said it won't become complacent in the increasingly competitive convention market.

The local convention industry is a boon to the state's tourism bottom line, according to Alistair Morrison, marketing and tourism professor and the director of Purdue University's Tourism and Hospitality Research Center.

"Indianapolis has been one of the stars of the com ention market." said Morrison, with decades of experience and research in hospitality behind him. "It has really improved its image and focused on its strengths."

Morrison said conventions have become crucial for the city. because. although the majority of tourists ,till are leisure travelers. convention-goers "tend to spend much higher than other types of tourists" on hotel accommodations. restaurants, attractions and shopping.

The city's convention business is one of the most significant contributors to the revitalization of downtown, according to John Goss, director of the Indiana Tourism Division of the State Department of Commerce.

"The generation of traffic throughout the year to support restaurants and hotels that have sprung up downtown would not have happened without the strong events brought to us by the ICVA," said Goss, whose division's annual $4.5 million budget is just under half the ICVA's $9.2 million this year.

In its bid for business, the ICVA still finds lingering images of Indiana as a hokey, Midwestern state, despite downtown's dramatic makeover, said Rick Hughes, ICVA's senior vice president.

"That's a constant challenge. We want to get the word out to a broader base of clients to feel, breathe and see the quality of facilities we have in our city," he said.

Morrison contended the association has already turned Indianapolis' reputation around.

"It's a unique city because it's hard to think of any other in the country where the convention center and hotels are so near each other and have a close proximity to the airport," he said. "And [the ICVA's] budget is smaller than associations in similar-sized cities, so it's being more productive."

The ICVA doesn't have to sell Indianapolis to organizations like Performance Racing Industry, returning to the city for its fourth consecutive year.

"Since we've come to Indianapolis, our worldwide attendance has grown substantially and we attribute that to a variety of issues," said Steve Lewis, a producer at the Laguna Beach, Calif.-based group.

"Indy is centered in the heart of the racing market; the Hoosier hospitality has been so warm and inviting; you have world-class, quality restaurants and affordable hotel packages," he said. "Plus, everything is within walking distance of the convention center."

Performance Racing Industry joined the convention circuit 13 years ago in Louisville, and later moved to Columbus, Ohio.

"But with all that Indianapolis has to offer and its expansion in recent years, we felt it was the right city to come to and we are planning ahead to keep coming here," Lewis said.

Marriott based their decision to build the newest hotel on feasibility studies that showed great growth and opportunities in convention businesses, said Marketing Director Tom Roth.

"And already, our pre-opening sales team has booked group room nights for conventions until 2006," he said.

The Marriott will conduct most of its convention business in conjunction with the ICVA, but will operate its own mini convention roster.

The ICVA. a 501c(6) not-for-profit, is the country's 24thlargest association. It is funded mostly by hotel taxes, with the remainder from membership dues, grants and other financial support.

ICVA business has boomed from its debut 30 events and 79,000 room nights in 1984 to almost 400 meetings and nearly 500,000 room nights last year.

In that decade and a half, the 1.9-million-square-foot convention center complex has expanded to include 400,000 square feet of exhibit space plus more meeting rooms, a fourth ballroom and a food court.

Some of the big names scheduled to arrive in Indianapolis this year include the Church of the Nazarene, which will bring 40.000 international members: the CocaCola Circle City Classic, the National Catholic Youth Conference; and the International Association of Lions Clubs.

The ICVA also announced last week it had just landed the hosting gig for the Libertarian Party's national convention in July 2002.