Leaders, staff and local industry partners from meetNKY/Northern Kentucky Convention & Visitors Bureau will join others from Kentucky’s tourism, events and meetings industry in Lexington today for the first ever Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID).
The evnt is described as a worldwide day of events to showcase the widespread economic impact of business meetings, conventions, trade shows and exhibitions that will include a proclamation from Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin.
“Meetings mean business in Northern Kentucky and throughout the state, the U.S. and across the world,” said Julie Kirkpatrick, Vice President, Sales & Marketing for meetNKY.
Kirkpatrick is also president-elect of the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) – Kentucky Bluegrass Chapter, which is leading the April 14 GMID event celebration in Kentucky.
“Global Meetings Industry Day recognizes the tremendous economic impact generated by meetings and conventions and celebrates the work of millions of planners and hospitality industry professionals who make meetings happen every day,” said Kirkpatrick, who takes office in June. “Kentucky’s MPI – Kentucky Bluegrass Chapter is so proud to be part of this worldwide celebration to recognize the economic power of the meetings industry.”
meetNKY president and CEO Eric Summe said Kirkpatrick is fiercely passionate about attracting meetings, conventions, trade shows and exhibitions to Northern Kentucky.
“The MPI event is a well-chosen initiative to highlight how the meetings industry drives economic impact in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties as well as across the entire state,” Summe said.
meetNKY serves as an aggressive sales, marketing, and service organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings, and visitor expenditures.
Meetings mean business – and money – in Northern Kentucky and across the Commonwealth.
According to the 2014 EEI Study conducted by the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet:
*Over the last five years, the economic impact from tourism in Kentucky has increased by more than $2.2 billion to $13.1 billion
*The industry has added 13,000 jobs and now supports 180,000 jobs statewide. These jobs generated more than $2.9 billion in wages for Kentucky workers, an increase of nearly $123 million from the previous year
*Tourism generates $1.37 billion in tax revenues for local and state governments annually
Travel and tourism contributed nearly $366 million to Northern Kentucky’s economy during 2015 as tourism filled more hotel rooms than ever in the region, meetNKY announced during its annual meeting in March 24. Northern Kentucky also accounted for 39 percent of the $4.4 billion in travel spending in the Greater Cincinnati region and 20 percent of all travel spending in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
In addition to spending, meetings also boost economic development efforts by introducing Northern Kentucky to business travelers, who may revisit the area in the future as leisure visitors or consider it for locating a new business.
Following the meeting, the Kentucky GMID celebration continues at Keeneland racetrack where members will celebrate Gov. Matt Bevin’s proclamation recognizing April 14 as Global Meetings Industry Day in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
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