115 Vintage Cars Coming on Wednesday

The Great Race is coming. And city officials are expecting big crowds downtown to greet it. About 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 115 vintage vehicles ranging from a 1916 Hudson Hill Climber and a 1916 Hudson Speedster to a 1974 Peterbilt 359 and a 1974 Plymouth Bluesmobile will begin rolling into downtown Owensboro on a 2,300-mile…

Rolling Stone: Owensboro a ‘must visit’ music town

Rolling Stone magazine says there are seven “Must-Visit Places Country Music Fans Should Flock to Now.” And Owensboro is one of them. The article, published last Thursday, also lists Nashville, of course; Southwest Virginia; Austin, Texas; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Branson, Missouri; and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.   The article says, “This year, fill up your gas tank,…

MOGA bringing 1,000-plus geocachers to town

Owensboro should see more tourists in town this week than it’s seen since the summer of 2019. Mark Calitri, president of the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, is expecting about 1,200 people from across the United States — and even a group from the United Kingdom — for the Midwest Open Geocaching Adventure Friday…

CVB wants Holiday World visitors to stay here

Leah Koch, director of communications at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, says the theme park averages about 1 million visitors a year. “Most of them come from Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri,” she said. “But we occasionally have families that travel across the country, and even some who travel from…

CVB trying to rebuild community calendar

There wasn’t much on the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau’s community calendar during the last nine months of 2020. Most things were canceled by the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s 2021 now, and the CVB wants to hear from people planning “tourism-friendly” events.   “Our calendar keeps the public, both locals and visitors, informed of…

CVB wins ConventionSouth award

The Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Visit Owensboro arm has won ConventionSouth’s Readers’ Choice Award for the third time. ConventionSouth is a national multi-media resource for planning events in the South. More than 3,000 destinations were nominated for the honors.   They were then placed on an online ballot and meeting professionals and fans…

Bacon appointed to state travel board

Claude Bacon, vice chairman of the board at the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, has been appointed to the Kentucky Travel Industry Association’s board of directors. Mark Calitri, CVB president, said having a seat on the state board is a big deal for Owensboro. “With the devastating results of COVID-19, this is a significant…

CVB focusing on post-pandemic recovery

  Mark Calitri, president of the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, says there are 8 million people within a 200-mile radius of Owensboro. That includes an area bordered by St. Louis, Cincinnati, Lafayette, Indiana, and a few miles into northern Alabama. And Calitri’s goal is to bring as many of them to town as…

CVB wins ConventionSouth award

The Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Visit Owensboro arm has won ConventionSouth’s Readers’ Choice Award for the third time. ConventionSouth is a national multi-media resource for planning events in the South. More than 3,000 destinations were nominated for the honors. They were then placed on an online ballot and meeting professionals and fans voted…

Mark Calitri speaks tourism and economic development: Everybody loves a great comeback story!

https://www.owensborotimes.com/news/2020/04/column-calitri-keeping-positive-outlook/   During uncertain times, one thing is definite. We will be better as a result of these crises. Everyone loves a comeback story, and Owensboro will come back better than ever. We’ve been the underdog before, and we thrive in that role, said Mark Calitri, President of Visit Owensboro. As the virus continues to…