State of tourism: how is Indiana's convention and visitor business?

• Author: McKimmie, Kathy
• Position: Tourism

The economy has been much more of a factor in the state's tourism business than the attacks of September 11, says Lynne Fuller, acting director of the Tourism and Film Development Division, part of the Indiana Department of Commerce.

A good barometer is the innkeeper's tax collection, supporting local convention and visitors bureaus. Receipts were down 5 to 15 percent in 2001 in most areas across the state, says Fuller. And Indiana's budget woes have led to cuts in the division's $4.5 million budget, $3.5 million of which goes to marketing. One popular $300,000 grant program, providing a 50 percent match to non-profits for local festivals and events, was suspended indefinitely last fall.

The bed tax in Evansville fared better than in most areas in 2001, says Marilee Fowler, executive director of the local convention and visitors bureau. According to Fowler, it brought in about the same amount as in 2000. "In one respect that's good," she says. "But there was no growth."

That should turn around this year, thanks to its convention business, lured by the relatively new 280,000-square-foot Evansville Auditorium and Convention Centre, dubbed The Centre. Thirty-one conventions are booked for 2002, up from 19 in 2001.

Alastair Morrison, director of the Tourism and Hospitality Research Center at Purdue University in West Lafayette, helps local convention and visitors bureaus by developing visitor profile studies, which gauge the economic impact of tourism. "The best market for Indiana is from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and to some extent Kentucky," he says. "We're very much a regional market."

Deep discounts and freebies are sure-fire ways to attract visitors. Throughout the year, retailers, hotels and attractions offer "Play Money" discounts through printed coupons available by calling 800/Enjoy-IN or by visiting www.ejoyindiana.com and printing your own. Want 25 percent off your gift shop purchase at Chateau Thomas Winery in Nashville? Five bucks off a $25 purchase at one of 20 participating merchants in Madison? Just get your Play Money and go.

Fuller got a welcome surprise last month when Indiana's travel guide was ranked No. 1 by North Carolina-based Randall Travel Marketing, a research and consulting firm for the industry. The closest contiguous state was Illinois at No. 6.

To further bolster interest in what Indiana has to offer, the division launched a public-service campaign encouraging Hoosiers to travel...