A fixture in downtown Indianapolis since 1987, the Academy hasn’t yet been evicted from its Pan American Plaza ice rinks,
but it operates under a cloud of uncertainty.
More people are expected to hit the road than did last year, but their budgets will be tighter because of high unemployment,
stock markets in retreat and a still-fragile economy.
Dora operates more than 20 hotels, including five in downtown Indianapolis and two adjacent to Indianapolis International
Airport.
Unite Here, a Chicago-based hotel workers union, has been trying to organize employees at the Westin Indianapolis, Hyatt Regency
Indianapolis and Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel & Suites.
General Hotels Corp. will manage five more hotels in Indiana and Ohio.
Hotel occupancy rates in the last two years have plunged nationally and locally to levels not seen in decades, putting a number
of hotels at or near the financial breaking point. But relief finally appears to be on the way.
Unfathomable just a decade ago, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is trimming demands on hospitality packages in a scramble
to fill vacancies and preserve what IMS officials call "a major profit center."
The convention bureau has shelved its plan to attract a full-service hotel and instead will boost spending on tourism marketing.
Tickets were snapped up fast for this year’s Final Four, almost assuring a record economic impact for Indianapolis. But two
more wins for Purdue or Butler could bring down projected visitor spending.
Scholars Inn’s growth engine is its wholesale bakery, which distributes granola and other
fresh products across state lines thanks
to deals with
partners like Kroger.
Turner Woodard has purchased the historic Canterbury Hotel on South Illinois Street. He said the hotel fits his vision of
turning around properties and making them profitable.
The expanded service shuttling air travelers and airport workers to and from Indianapolis International Airport began Feb.
3, to the newly opened Fairfield Inn & Suites at West and Washington streets.
The 1,000-room J.W. Marriott isn’t even finished and support already is emerging for a second downtown hotel that
would rival it in size.
Once considered a destination only eight months of the year, Indianapolis—with its compact downtown and indoor walkways—is
emerging as a convention powerhouse even during cold weather.
The Fairfield Inn & Suites on West Washington Street downtown will open Wednesday. The hotel is the first of four comprising
the 1,600-room Marriott Place project to welcome guests.
Conrad Indianapolis and West Baden Springs Hotel have been named to Condé Nast Traveler’s
Gold List 2010.
Groups that committed in 2009 to hold meetings in Indianapolis in future years booked a total of nearly 688,000 hotel-room
nights, a number that exceeded ICVA’s goal by 5 percent.
Two walkways that will connect to the new Marriott Place hotel will extend downtown’s network of skywalk and underground pedestrian
paths to a total of 12 hotels with more than 4,700 rooms–the most of any downtown in the United States.
At issue is a dispute pitting NFL players against owners, and owners against one another over how league
revenue should be divided. If it isn’t resolved, the 2011 season could be shortened, delayed or canceled.
The contest offers businesses a chance to promote something about themselves that might be of interest
to hotel guests in the area.
