Tourism Brings Record Impact to Indy

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Visit Indy says tourism to the city has boosted the region’s economy to a record level for the fourth consecutive year. Research conducted by Pennsylvania-based Rockport Analytics says more than 28 million visitors contributed to the record numbers in 2015, the most recent full year available.

The report says visitors spent $4.9 billion in 2015, generating $682 million in state and local taxes and supporting nearly 78,000 full-time-equivalent jobs in central Indiana. By comparison, more than 27 million visitors spent $4.6 billion in 2014.

"Tourism is a vital, and growing, economic engine for Indy and our surrounding region," said Leonard Hoops, chief executive officer of Visit Indy. "Visitors generate $2.4 billion in wages for Central Indiana residents and relieve the tax burden for area households by about $950 per household. Nearly 50 cents of every visitor dollar goes toward wages for hospitality and supply chain employees."

Visit Indy says the region has hit record annual visitor spending each year since 2012, when Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl. The organization adds full-year data for 2016 will be available next January.

Additionally, Visit Indy says it booked more than 883,000 future group room-nights in 2016 for events that will occur as far out as 2024. That includes conventions, trade shows, meetings and other events that will be worth nearly $1 billion in future visitor spending.

"We are always striving to make Indy a must-visit destination, not just for conventions or major sporting events but for general leisure tourism as well," said Hoops. "So we continually evolve and revise our Tourism Master Plan originally introduced in 2015 as a road map for Indy tourism growth."