National Eucharistic Congress to bring $62M to Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The National Eucharist Congress is set to bring in $62 million to the city of Indianapolis over the course of its five days.
With over 60,000 people set to attend, the event is being hosted for the first time since 1941, and Indianapolis was chosen for its location and hosting capability.
Visit Indy first put in a bid to host the event in 2021. Christine Zetzl, associate director of marketing for the Indianapolis tourism organization, said, “We are a great central location, so more than 70% of the country can drive to Indianapolis in a day.”
Accessibility wasn’t the only benefit to bringing the highly anticipated event to the Circle City, though. The economic impact was especially notable.
“When you think about the fact that these attendees are staying in hotels, we contracted over 88 hotels in central Indiana for this event,” Zetzl said. “They are eating at restaurants, so if you walk around downtown Indy, I mean that’s putting a paycheck in people’s pockets.”
With the economic impact comes the hope that attendees will enjoy Indianapolis so much, they will want to come back.
“We always hope that someone comes to this event and walks away wanting to return, so while this is what we call group business because they are here for a specific event, we want them to have an incredible experience and book their next getaway back to the city,” Zetzl said.
The number of people in town will be showcased especially on Saturday, when attendees will take part in a procession from Capitol Avenue and Georgia Street to Monument Circle.