Rivertown Pickleball of Southern Indiana brought its first Rivertown Pickleball tournament to Merchant Centre Court, 2965 Bittel Road. It drew 370 players from 11 states, making it one of the largest pickleball tournaments ever staged in the region. Now the second annual tournament is returning to Owensboro on Feb. 2-4. https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/townnews/table_tennis/rivertown-pickleball-tournament-returning-in-february/article_6f920842-b459-53bd-a97d-fefc252ebfb0.html?utm_source=messenger-inquirer.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3Frefreshed123%26-dc%3D1701259209&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline Mark Calitri, president,…
Mark Calitri
Visit Owensboro names tourism service award winner
Jenny Van Meter, head bartender and server at Colby’s Fine Food & Spirits, was honored by the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau on Thursday for her work as an ambassador for Owensboro tourism. Van Meter’s friendly attitude has helped bring repeat customers to the downtown restaurant and to Owensboro, Mark Calitri, president of the…
Visit Owensboro earns statewide marketing awards for excellence
Visit Owensboro, was recently recognized with four Kentucky Travel Industry Association Traverse Awards. They received gold for their marketing campaign for BBQ & Barrels, and silver for destination management relating to that event. Mark Calitri, Visit Owensboro President & CEO, added “I’m incredibly proud of the work our team has done when it comes to…
Visit Owensboro forecasts strong event growth in 2024
Mark Calitri, president of Visit Owensboro reports: For Owensboro’s hospitality industry, 2022 was a record year. And 2023 looks like it will be close to those numbers. So, that puts pressure on the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau to create events and book enough conventions to keep 2024 at that level — or better. “We…
Special Olympics state softball coming to Owensboro
Visit Owensboro announced that the Special Olympics Kentucky will bring its state softball tournament and team skills competition to Owensboro’s Jack C. Fisher Park on Sept. 6-8, 2024. Dave Kirk, destination management director for the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the tournament will bring 40 to 45 teams from across the state to…
Visit Owensboro announces funding to attract meetings and conventions
The largest grant, for $5.5 million, went to the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and was announced in January. Mark Calitri, president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said $504,000 will be used for out-of-town marketing, and the rest will go toward bringing events and conventions to the Owensboro Convention Center, the RiverPark Center, Bluegrass Music…
Owensboro Record Breaking Airshow Weekend
Recently the Messenger Inquirer published an article written by James Mayse, recapping on an eventful weekend for the community of Owensboro. The Owensboro Air Show packed people into downtown Saturday and Sunday, as the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and other performers brought an estimated 60,000 people to the city riverfront, while also filling downtown hotels,…
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…
Hotels hard hit by pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic hit Owensboro on March 13 — Friday the 13th. “One hotel reported that they lost over $50,000 in future reservations,” Mark Calitri, president of the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said a few days later. “That’s in one day! This type of news indicates to me that April results could be…
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…