Calitri reports: Basketball, cattlemen to have $800,000 impact

Calitri reports: Basketball, cattlemen to have $800,000 impact
The combination of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association conference and the Kentucky 2A Basketball Championships in Owensboro this week should pump nearly $800,000 into the local economy, said Mark Calitri, president of the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The basketball tournament, which brings eight boys and eight girls teams from across the state to town, will have an economic impact of about $415,000, he said.
And the cattlemen’s meeting will mean about $374,000 to the economy.
Calitri said the tournament should attract crowds because the top two teams in the state, based on the Kentucky High School Athletics Association RPI rankings — John Hardin High School in Elizabethtown and Lexington Catholic — will be in the tournament.
Chris Joslin. executive director of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, said, “I’m glad to see sports events and big conventions coming to Owensboro. Events definitely create a lot of energy downtown and provide compelling reasons for leisure travelers to be in Owensboro. People across the commonwealth, including those in Frankfort, recognize that Owensboro has created momentum and is capitalizing on that momentum.”
Chris Gendek, the CVB’s destination services director, said more than 90% of the rooms in the city’s chain hotels are already sold out and that’s projected to increase as the weekend approaches.

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Visit Owensboro is the official destination marketing organization for Owensboro and Daviess County Kentucky. www.visitowensboro.com Mark Calitri serves as President/CEO.