Topic: Cincinnati: Conventions and Tourism News & Info

[cincyimages]

Cincinnati flourishing as tourist destination
By Lisa Cornwell
Associated Press

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati is getting a flood of recognition from national travel and arts publications for the first time since it started trying to improve its image after the 2001 race riots. 

In the past few months, the Zagat Survey, AmericanStyle magazine, the American Automobile Association and other groups have cited the quality and affordability of Cincinnati’s arts, entertainment, shopping, dining and lodging, and its success as a family-friendly tourist destination.

Several attractions received high marks in the recent U.S. Family Travel Guide published by Zagat Survey in association with Parenting Magazine.  The ratings resulted from a poll of more than 11,000 travelers who were asked to rate family-oriented attractions on child appeal, adult appeal, public facilities, service and cost.  “Cincinnati has received recognition from us for some of its restaurants and hotels in the past, but it has never received this type of recognition as a destination city,” said Zagat spokeswoman Alexa Rudin.

Full article at http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/living/9240560.htm

[Cincinnatus]

There should be another spate of articles and media attention when the Freedom Center opens next month and the Reds Hall of Fame in Sept.  There was an article in the Enquirer today about the new director of the CAC who sounds like she may make a splash too.

[napier1]

Wow I think this is so great and as a person from another city I do think The City Of Cincinnati has really turned the corner........

[cincyimages]

From CNN Travel, some national coverage...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/07/28/cincinnati.tourism.ap/index.html

[Cincinnatus]

I saw that on Cincinnati Tomorrow too.  How's the "Make Cincinnati Weird" campaign going?

[kendall]

This story made it to the front page of CNN.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/07/28/cincinnati.tourism.ap/index.html

[buildingcincinnati]

Gee, couldn't get past the first paragraph without mentioning the riots.

Way to go!

[cincyimages]

Wait isn't that what I posted?

[buildingcincinnati]

^ Yeah, it's the same story.  CNN just jacked it from the AP wire.

[kendall]

Yeah, "this story" refers to the original post. Otherwise, I would have posted to the actual text. Good to see positive news about Cincinnati in the national  news sites.

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 5/14/05 Cincinnati Post:


Tourism officials court Midwest travel writers
By Greg Paeth
Post staff reporter

If you're bored silly in Cincinnati, you may need to look at things from an out-of-towner's perspective.  Members of the Midwest Travel Writers Association came to town this week for a four-day spring conference, wrapping up today, and they seem to be heading home with some upbeat impressions of the region.

"It has a very urban feel to it. Not like New York City, but it's certainly an urban center," said Frederick Karst of Culver, Ind., who writes freelance travel pieces for the Times of Northwest Indiana and other publications.  He was impressed with Thursday visits to Great American Ball Park, the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, Newport on the Levee and the Newport Aquarium.

Any negatives?  "I never observed any police brutality, if that's what you're asking," said Karst.  He was referring, of course, to Cincinnati's reputation nationally, which was partly shaped by the 2001 riots sparked by the police shooting of an unarmed man in Over-the-Rhine.  It's exactly the reputation tourism officials want to erase.

Full article at http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050514/BIZ/505140311/1001/RSS04

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 5/22/05 NKY Sunday Challenger:


Wish You Were Here
CVB Sells NKY to the World
By Jason Feldmann
The Sunday Challenger
jfeldmann@challengernky.com

COVINGTON - For years, Northern Kentucky has attempted to carve out its own identity separate from the rest of the state and the city of Cincinnati.  Booming populations across the three-county area over the last decade have resulted in a larger, more diverse workforce, and more of just about everything else - from shopping and entertainment to hotels and restaurants.
 
But when it comes to marketing and promoting tourism within NKY to travelers outside the Tristate area, Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties remain joined at the hip with their metro neighbor to the north.  Tourism is one of the top three industries in the state of Kentucky.  And since entering office, Gov. Ernie Fletcher has led a push to bring more tourism dollars to the state, with tax abatements, the horse-racing industry and Kentucky heritage being principle selling points.

But in NKY, officials with the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau (NKCVB) use Cincinnati as their geographic locator in helping potential visitors find the area on a map.  The bureau's tagline for NKY as "the southern side of Cincinnati," says it all.

Full article at http://www.challengernky.com/articles/2005/05/22/around_nky/doc428e3b9518ee3428667045.txt

[buildingcincinnati]

Here's a column from Cliff Peale from the 5/22/05 Enquirer:


We're fun, not fancy
By Cliff Peale
Enquirer staff writer
 
Breakfast at the Contemporary Arts Center. Behind the scenes at Great American Ball Park. A tour of the renovated Taft Museum. Lunch at the Hofbrauhaus in Newport. A stroll through the antique shops of historic Lebanon. Rafting on the Little Miami River. Dinner at - Jungle Jim's?

This, apparently, is how you dazzle tourists here. You point out the Ohio River at every opportunity. You mix fine food and unusual places. You pull strings, get them into places ordinary people here wouldn't get to see.

Last week, the lucky visitors were a group of travel writers from around the Midwest, converging on Greater Cincinnati for their annual conference. These writers know about all the traditional events, from Reds and Bengals games to Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. They want to be enchanted, to be surprised.

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050522/COL01/505220362/1081/BIZ

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 5/30/05 Cincinnati Business Courier:


Network lights the 'fusion'
Tourism packages to draw visitors for summer weekends
Dan Monk and Lucy May
Staff Reporters

The Cincinnati USA Regional Tourism Network will use three discount packages and two "fusion events" to convince visitors from other markets to spend their time and money in Greater Cincinnati this summer.
 
The packages, priced under $50, are designed to bring Louisville, Lexington, Columbus and Indianapolis residents to Cincinnati's most popular attractions, including Paramount's Kings Island, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, the Newport Aquarium and the Cincinnati Museum Center. Organizers hope to sell more than 50,000 of the packages this summer, all the while gathering data on what local attractions are the region's strongest draws.

Plans for the discount packages were unveiled in March, but details on how the program will work have only recently emerged. Two of the discount packages were finalized days ago, while a third so-called "super" pass is close to receiving final approval from the attractions that will be involved, Usitalo said.

Full article at http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2005/05/30/story5.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 4/3/06 Cincinnati Business Courier:


Cincinnati lags other Ohio cities in tourism business
$19M economic impact jump pales vs. Columbus' $43M
Cincinnati Business Courier - March 31, 2006
by Lucy May
Senior Staff Reporter
 
The good news is the region's hotels have finally recovered from the beating they took in 2001, the year the Tri-State was walloped by Comair's pilot strike, Cincinnati's race riots and travel cutbacks after Sept. 11.  The bad news is the region still has a long way to go to catch up with the cities Cincinnati competes with for tourism spending, said Scott Usitalo, executive director of the Cincinnati USA Regional Tourism Network.

At the network's first annual meeting Friday, Usitalo will explain how our region stacks up against Columbus, Louisville, Lexington and Indianapolis, the cities he is using as a competitive set.  For 2005, Greater Cincinnati hotels posted an average occupancy of just over 56 percent, which is on par with the region's 2000 results and 5 percent higher than in 2004, Usitalo said.

Full article at http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/04/03/story6.html?from_rss=1

[ColDayMan]

The economy there has grown faster than Cincinnati's or Cleveland's, and Columbus has "the only large first-class convention center in the state as Cleveland's is outdated and Cincinnati's is under construction," said David Sangree, the firm's president.

Basically.

[UncleRando]

Cincy finalist for NAACP meet
'08 convention has political overtones
BY ALEXANDER COOLIDGE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
September 15, 2006

CINCINNATI - Cincinnati is one of two finalists to host the 2008 NAACP national convention.  Though it wouldn't be the largest-ever convention to grace the Queen City, convention officials say it would deliver considerable panache - especially in a presidential election year.

Cincinnati could likely expect the same national attention it got in 2004 when the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention came, because both presidential candidates spoke to the VFW delegates and likely would come again for the NAACP.  "It would be a grand slam for us," said Julie Calvert, spokeswoman for the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau.  She said a delegation of 40 NAACP officials will visit the Duke Energy Center downtown next month before making a decision.

Calvert said the NAACP convention would bring in 4,500 attendees and generate 11,575 room-nights for local hotels.  The convention would rank among the 10 largest to visit the convention center, she said, and would be the biggest convention here since the National Square Dance Association in 1992.

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060915/BIZ01/609150355

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/4/06 Cincinnati Business Courier:


Cincinnati CVB changes name, moves headquarters
Cincinnati Business Courier - 9:59 AM EDT Wednesday
 
The Greater Cincinnati Convention & Visitors Bureau is moving to the center of downtown and changing its name to identify with the Cincinnati USA regional brand.

The bureau, according to an e-mail from President and CEO Dan Lincoln, will now be known as the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau. Its communications and marketing materials will incorporate the new name and logo.

The organization also has moved from its 15-year home on West Sixth Street to a new headquarters at 525 Vine St., overlooking Fountain Square, Lincoln said in the e-mail. Its phone numbers and e-mail addresses won't change.

The Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau promotes the Greater Cincinnati area as a convention and leisure destination, booking conventions and other special events.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/10/02/daily28.html?from_rss=1

[UncleRando]

I don't see how I could possibly dislike anything in this article.....GOOD NEWS!!!

[UncleRando]

NAACP checking out Cincy
BY ALEXANDER COOLIDGE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
October 12, 2006

CINCINNATI - Hoping to bag a high-profile conference in 2008, city and downtown convention officials are rolling out the red carpet for NAACP dignitaries who are scouting Cincinnati.  The Queen City is one of two finalists for the Baltimore-based civil rights group annual July gathering.

Local convention officials are hopeful Ohio’s must-win status in a presidential election year could help them outbid the other contender Las Vegas.  “This is an opportunity for them to see how fabulous Cincinnati is,” said Jeanette Altenau, a local trustee for the national board for the NAACP.

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory is slated to bid NAACP officials a formal welcome at a dinner held tonight night downtown at the Bankers Club.  On Friday and Saturday the visitors will hear presentations by the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce and the local chapter of the NAACP and tour Duke Energy Center, the downtown convention center.

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/BIZ01/310120017/1076/BIZ

[UncleRando]

City woos NAACP convention
Committee here to check out facilities
BY ALEXANDER COOLIDGE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
October 13, 2006

PHOTO: Edith Thrower (left), Cincinnati's NAACP branch president, stands with Hazel Dukes and Roslyn McCallister Brock, NAACP leaders. The Enquirer / Ernest Coleman

CINCINNATI - Hoping to bag a high-profile conference in 2008, city and downtown convention officials rolled out the red carpet Thursday for NAACP dignitaries, who are scouting Cincinnati. 

NAACP President Bruce S. Gordon and Vice Chairman Roslyn McCallister Brock will be among the 27 NAACP officials visiting Cincinnati this weekend.  They will leave Sunday for Las Vegas, which they will also tour for three days.  A decision by the NAACP is expected later this month.

Convention officials estimate the conference would attract more than 4,500 attendees, generate 11,575 room-nights for hotels and infuse about $3.2 million into the local economy.  While the downtown convention center has hosted larger conventions, winning the NAACP's would deliver the local center considerable prestige.

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/BIZ01/610130349/1076/BIZ

[The_Cincinnati_Kid]

NAACP picks Cincy over Vegas
Look for 4,500 delegates, $3M impact - and (likely) presidential candidates
BY ALEXANDER COOLIDGE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Cincinnati will host the annual NAACP Convention in 2008.  Local convention officials learned Saturday that they had won their hard-fought campaign to bring the group's 99th annual gathering to the city after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's quarterly board meeting in St. Louis.

The Queen City beat out convention super-heavyweight Las Vegas, the other finalist.

"We got it. This is huge," declared an elated Dan Lincoln, president of the Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau.  The event is expected to attract 4,500 attendees, pump up to $3.2 million into the local economy and lend considerable prestige to the downtown Duke Energy Center, where the convention will be based.  Local leaders had lobbied the Baltimore-based civil rights group all summer to win the nod, even when the nation's largest and oldest civil rights organization had appeared to be leaning toward Las Vegas.

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/BIZ01/610220335

[UncleRando]

^GREAT NEWS!!!!!

[buildingcincinnati]

Awesome.

[RiverViewer]

We told them: 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happens here makes national news.'

That's a great line...

[UncleRando]

Hispanic MBAs to visit Cincy
CHRIS DUMOND / HAMILTON JOURNAL NEWS
October 21, 2006

CINCINNATI - More than 9,000 students and professionals will be coming to town next week to take part in the National Society of Hispanic MBAs' 17th annual conference and career expo.  The conference, which is expected to generate about $6 million in Greater Cincinnati, is also an opportunity for the region to show off to the 300-plus companies visiting, said Fifth Third Bank Hispanic Initiatives Manager Gema Bahns.

Bahns, who serves on the society's executive board, said area companies and universities have teamed up to market the region during the event, and they also want to attract young talented workers.  "We constantly hear a concern from companies about the brain drain," she said.  "Young professionals stay here a short amount of time, then they leave.  With companies like (Proctor & Gamble), if their workers don't want to stay here, they could decide to relocate their headquarters."

Full article at http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/10/21/hjn102106hispmba.html

[Mr. Anderson]

Hispanic MBAs to visit Cincy

CINCINNATI - More than 9,000 students and professionals will be coming to town next week to take part in the National Society of Hispanic MBAs' 17th annual conference and career expo.

That is awesome - hopefully some of them will return to cincy to work/start businesses, etc.

[UncleRando]

Funds sought for NAACP event
BY ALEXANDER COOLIDGE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
October 23, 2006

CINCINNATI - With the NAACP convention headed here in 2008, local officials say they must now turn their attention to raising money to accommodate the visitors.  The local NAACP will assemble a fund-raising committee to solicit corporate and individual donations to pay next year the national NAACP its cash guarantee – money used to cover the initial costs of holding the convention.

Local officials did not release a target figure.  A planning committee will also be set up in the next several days.  Convention officials estimate the event will attract 4,500 attendees but Thrower and others hoped excitement generated by the presidential election year as well as Cincinnati’s central location, relatively low costs and other attributes will possibly double that estimate.

Cincinnati beat out Las Vegas – a formidable contender for any convention.  But local officials from the mayor’s office, the convention bureau, the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, the police department as well as the local NAACP chapter touted Ohio’s must-win status in a presidential election year as a critical consideration.

Full article at
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061023/BIZ01/310230020/1076/BIZ

[RiverViewer]

So what do we need to pay for?  Are we talking about maybe some city liaison salaries, maybe some police overtime, maybe some bunting and flowers?  Or what?

[UncleRando]

Hispanic MBAs gather here
BY JEFF MCKINNEY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
October 26, 2006

DOWNTOWN - More than 7,000 Hispanic MBAs and students will visit Cincinnati this week to attend the National Society of Hispanic MBAs Conference & Career Expo at Duke Energy Center.  The 17th annual event, which will run today through Saturday, will mark the first time the Irving, Texas-based group has held its annual event in the Midwest.

Cincinnati beat out Detroit for the convention, which will give the more than 250 companies and 90 academic institutions expected to attend the event a chance to recruit from the largest annual gathering of Hispanic MBAs and students in America, said group spokesman Mauricio Navarro.

The event will be Duke Energy Center's largest convention so far this year, based on projected attendance and exhibition space, said Justin Markle, the center's marketing manager.  He said the Hispanic group expects the convention to have a local economic impact of $5 million.

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061026/BIZ01/610260321/1076/BIZ

[UncleRando]

Tourism chief leaving
BY CLIFF PEALE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
December 7, 2006

CINCINNATI - Scott Usitalo, president of the two-year-old Regional Tourism Network of Greater Cincinnati, will leave the group in January to join a new brand consulting firm. He will be replaced by Sean Rugless, marketing vice president.

The group, which gets most of its revenue from hotel-tax revenue in Northern Kentucky and Hamilton County, hopes to build a $3.3 million budget this year after getting approval for a $1 million annual grant from Procter & Gamble Co. It uses that money mostly for marketing programs in Indianapolis, Columbus, Lexington and Louisville.

Usitalo, 48, will join Seed Strategy, a brand consulting firm, as a partner. The former P&G executive was on loan to the tourism network for a year starting in late 2004 before retiring from P&G and becoming a full-time employee. He will remain an advisor to the tourism network.

Full article at
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/BIZ01/312070009/1076

[C-Dawg]

No surprise. Columbus should be slaughtering the rest of the state when it comes to tourism dollars because of the convention center.

[LittleItalyCleveland]

umm yeah...can't say I'm shocked at this one.

[ColDayMan]

If this continuous bashing of other cities keeps happening, this will be deleted (except for the initial article).

[mrnyc]

very surprising, i would have thought at the least kings island would bump it up? still, this is temporary and no big deal as when the new cc comes online that will change.

otoh i guess it could be related to image problems, but even that is all changing. the positive article about renos in otr from the nytimes we posted recently is one example. but eh, i dk about that anymore -- i really think the new cc will turn the tide on those numbers.