3,000 hotel rooms on hold as all games of men’s NCAA tourney come to Indy
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament — with every game played in Indianapolis, Bloomington or West Lafayette due to the coronavirus pandemic — will be a big boost to not only Indianapolis, but the hospitality industry as well.
That’s even if fans aren’t allowed into the arenas.
Downtown hotels have begun preparing for the increase in visitors with Monday morning’s announcement from the NCAA and Indiana Sports Corp. Patrick Tamm, president and chief executive officer of the Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association, called it a success story; “The entire region will have a shot in the arm. It’s our best news we’ve had in some time.”
Tamm said two-thirds of Indiana hotels are looking at bankruptcy. He said the biggest economic boost of the all-in-one-state tournament would come if it allows a few fans in the stands. “If we are able to get some fans, the economic impact will be tremendous. This is always going to be different. We will not have full stadiums. We don’t anticipate that.”
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Chris Gahl, senior vice president of Visit Indy, the city’s tourism board, said so far there are nearly 3,000 hotel rooms on hold for the tournament. They estimate the tournament will have a nine-figure economic impact.
Gahl believes Indy was made for this moment. “It’s part of a collective recovery that we have been looking forward to, that we’ve been planning toward. This gives us an unique opportunity to position Indianapolis as a city, or the city recovering more quickly, one that understands the in’s and out’s of hosting events during a pandemic.”
Gahl added, “The hope and desire is that this will lead to future events and future convention business because of Indianapolis being raised up as a poster child for conducting safe and sound events during a pandemic.”
Indiana State Department of Health on Monday reported 39 more Hoosier deaths from the coronavirus for a total of 8,150. The state also said 3,630 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at state and private laboratories, for a total of 529,688.