Some high-profile events kept Evansvilleโs tourism industry on solid footing in the first six months of 2024 and helped the city combat negative national trends, Explore Evansville President and CEO Alexis Berggren says.
Hotel occupancy for the year through June 30 stood at 57.1 percent, down 1.7 percent from the same time in 2023. The average daily room rate was $103, up 6.4 percent from last yearโs $96. That only reflects data from Vanderburgh County and not surrounding counties.
The Indiana High School Athletic Association Boys Wrestling State Finals (Feb. 16-17), the total solar eclipse (April 8), and the National Theatre on Ice Competition (June 25-29) brought hefty traffic into Evansville. Berggren says smaller destinations nationwide are seeing visitation wane at the expense of larger ones, so hosting those events gave Evansville a lift.
The nationโs top 25 tourism markets are growing three times as fast as the rest of the country in 2024, Berggren says, โand that tells you where travelers are going and how they want to spend their money.โ
Average visitor spending in Evansville was $165 in the first half of 2024, down 6.3 percent from $176 last year. Berggren says that reflects the national trend of consumers spending less.
Sports tourism in the region is booming, Berggren says, with numerous baseball and softball tournaments at Deaconess Sports Park, plus soccer and other sports at Goebel Soccer Complex. Both facilities are off North Green River Road.
Sixty-nine percent of tourism events booked in Evansville this year are sports-related, according to Explore Evansville data. Berggren says those tournaments deliver positive economic impact, although she added that many visitors are choosing to drive long distances and not stay overnight, again showing the trend of cost-cutting.
Still, Deaconess Sports Park and Goebel Soccer Complex have brought 160,000 hotel room nights and $125 million in economic impact since 2015, the tourism agency says. Explore Evansville has acquired nearly 100 acres near the sports facilities, with an eye toward expansion in an increasingly competitive youth sports market.
The regionโs top โpoints of interestโ for visitors reflect a cross-section of the area, although as Evansville Businessย reported in its December 2023/January 2024 issue, Eastland Mall leads the way, and Evansvilleโs East Side retail environment drives much of the areaโs out-of-town traffic.
Other popular destinations for visitors are the cityโs hospitals and universities; Scales Lake Park in Boonville, Indiana; Ballyโs Evansville; and the Vanderburgh 4-H Center.
With the eclipse over and events such as Theatre on Ice and high school wrestling championships also in the rearview mirror, Berggren says Evansville will look for other activities and promotional campaigns to drive visitation.
Evansville in 2025 will welcome back the Ohio Valley Conference menโs and womenโs basketball championship and take a one-year turn hosting the Missouri Valley Conference womenโs basketball championship. Some state and regional conventions also are on next yearโs calendar.
โWeโll have to stay really intentional with our sales and marketing to ensure weโre using our resources to the best of our ability,โ Berggren says.
Berggren shared some other tourism-related facts:
- Vanderburgh County charges an 8 percent tax on its hotel rooms, which Berggren says is used on capital projects to boost tourism, marketing the area and its attractions, and operations and improvements at Old National Events Plaza.
- In 2022, the countyโs tourism industry generated $503 million in economic impact.
- Tourism that year supported 10,293 jobs, making it the countyโs fifth-largest industry.
- If tourism did not exist, each Vanderburgh County household would have to pay an additional $1,149 in taxes.
