CVB expecting big things in 2021

It’s no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has taken a huge chunk out of Owensboro’s $228 million tourism economy this year.

The hotel occupancy rate in Owenboro in September was down to 42% from 57% in 2019 and 63% in 2018.

But the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau and local attractions are promoting the idea of better times ahead in 2021.

“The entire tourism industry is in uncharted territory,” Mark Calitri, CVB president, said this week. “Experts say this will affect our business seven times worse than 9/11. We are hurting. The hardest part is we do not know when we will be able to open back up.”

But, he said, “The important thing is we will reopen. We are rescheduling. We are rebooking. We are aggressively pursuing new events. We are doing more with less in our marketing efforts. We will be ready to welcome back our visitors.”

To read the full article by the Messenger-Inquirer’s Keith Lawrence, click here