meetNKY, Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau, hosted its 2025 Annual Meeting at The Gallery at Newport on the Levee. The event, themed “Tourism in Motion,” brought together community members, tourism partners, elected officials, and regional organization representatives to celebrate the industry’s successes and discuss future growth.
“In 2024, Northern Kentucky’s tourism industry remained strong and we are excited to continue that momentum in 2025,” said Julie Kirkpatrick, meetNKY CEO and President. “Our priorities at meetNKY over the next two years will include a focus on strategic investments in sports development, expanding partnerships with CVG International Airport and its new president and CEO, and strengthening outdoor tourism opportunities to attract younger travelers. We’re also eagerly anticipating the reopening of the Cincinnati Duke Energy Convention Center, which will be a game-changer for our region.”
2024 Performance Highlights
Despite a slight dip in hotel demand from 2023’s record-setting numbers, Northern Kentucky’s tourism industry remained strong:
• Hotel Occupancy: 2024 ended with a 65.4% hotel occupancy rate, slightly below 2023’s 68.5% but still exceeding the national average of 63%.
• Tourism Impact for the Commonwealth: Northern Kentucky ranked #2 in the state for tourism impact, generating $2.2 billion in economic activity — second only to Louisville.
• Hotel Growth: A 2.2% increase in hotel room supply came with the openings of Candlewood Suites in Erlanger and Drury Inn & Suites in Florence.
• Convention Sales: The convention sales team secured over 48,000 future room nights, translating to a $25 million economic impact – a 20% year-over-year increase. Lead volume also grew by 30%, and event organizers reported a 100% satisfaction rate.
• Visitor Experience Enhancements: New digital kiosks and wayfinding signage were installed in Covington to help convention visitors navigate the city.
Successful Partnerships and Initiatives in 2024
During the event, Kirkpatrick noted that strong partnerships with organizations like ArtsWave and Visit Cincy have helped to create unique initiatives to help drive tourism to the region.
“Last year was an amazing year full of successful partnerships and growth,” said Kirkpatrick. “We finished our first year of a unique partnership with ArtsWave and the new Director of Northern Kentucky Creative Placemaking, Rachael Parker. Together, we placed a bold mural on the backside of the Northern Kentucky Convention Center from internationally known artist, Maya Huyuk, placing a new focus on this important building.”
In addition, to the mural, these partnerships helped bring BLINK back to Covington and expand to Newport.
Kirkpatrick also noted the benefits of a continued partnership with CVG International Airport. In 2024, they celebrated a year of the direct flight to London through British Airways and saw France leverage Delta’s connections to Paris and Germany to bring travelers to the Cincy region.
MeetNKY and Visit Cincy now leverage the Visit Cincy website to drive tourists to while visiting the region, which drew in about 4 million digital visitors in 2024. The partnership has led to more international media coverage and unique events, such as America’s River Roots Festival in October 2025 and hopefully a positive future announcement about Sundance making Cincinnati its new home.
What’s Ahead in 2025
Kirkpatrick noted that meetNKY will place an increased focus on outdoor recreation in 2025. She highlighted Erlanger’s Eons Adventure Park as a good start to the effort, which features over 1,000 acres of urban woodland, 20 miles of mountain biking trails and a network of canopy trails and other amenities.
Kirkpatrick also emphasized their commitment to promoting the region’s access to the Ohio River as part of the Ohio River Way and shared that meetNKY is already beginning to think of new ways to promote the region’s urban trails, Big Bone National Historic Park and so much more in 2025.
She also expressed excitement around the region’s major league teams, including the Bengals, FCC, and the upcoming Cincinnati Reds season with a new manager at the helm.
Finally, in 2025, the organization will move into a new physical location, joining regional partners such as BE NKY Growth Partnership, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, OneNKY Alliance, Horizon Community Funds, The Catalytic Fund, and others in the new OneNKY Center in Covington. This move will strengthen the region by placing organizations dedicated to economic and community development in Northern Kentucky under one roof, enabling them to work together more strategically to attract and retain talent, businesses, visitors and residents to the region.
“We will have the new life sciences incubator, LifeSci KY, directly above us on the second floor, providing momentum to continue to advance the mission of making NKY and Cincy a exceptional place to visit, work, live, learn, invest and give back.”
2024 PROOF Award
meetNKY’s annual meeting concluded with the presentation of the PROOF Award. The award recognizes a person, organization or initiative that has made a measurable impact on the region as a destination in the past year.
The award was presented to former Newport city manager, Tom Fromme, who retired after an accomplished 44-year career.
NKyTribune tomorrow: More about the Proof Award winner, Tom Fromme
A copy of the 2025 Annual Meeting report with numbers and details from the previous year can be found at meetNKY.com.