Terre Haute hotels are packed with sporting and tourism events and remain on track to hit a new tax revenue record with a 2022 target, said David Patterson, executive director of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau. says Mr.
Through July, county inn tax revenues were over $1.456 million, compared to $1.15 million through July 2021.
David Paterson
“We’re still ahead of last year, and I think we’ll be close to $3 million this year,” he said, breaking the record $2.6 million in tax revenue. “Everything went well and it’s been a great year so far.”
With the race scheduled, Patterson said a cross-country event at the Laverne-Gibson Championship Cross-Country Course in eastern Vigo County will be key to creating a new revenue benchmark.
“This is the best cross-country schedule I’ve seen in 25 years,” Patterson said.
In fact, Patterson said 25,000 people are expected to attend the final four races scheduled in October and November. These races include the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, Indiana High School Athletic Association Championship, NCAA Division I Great Lakes Regional Championship, and NIKE Cross Regional Midwest Championship.
And on October 1st, the month kicks off with a back-to-back race at the Indiana Middle School Cross Country State Championship, followed two hours later by the NIKE XC Town Twilight Race. That race could be much bigger for high school runners, Patterson said, because the rule limiting teams to a 300-mile radius (600 miles round trip) has been lifted.
As a result, there has been interest from teams in Florida, New Mexico and even California, Patterson told the Vigo County Tourism Commission, which oversees CVB, on Tuesday.
“Teams from all over the country are now able to participate in Nike events.These are strong teams from other regions and this is why they come here. [Nike race] As it is effectively a race before Nike’s regional qualifiers, it counts as points for the regional teams and then [they] I can go to the nationals,” Patterson said.
“Historically, we were first or second in terms of participation, so these teams [from other states] They have a vested interest in coming here because they are running against better runners. [team] Stocks will go up until they hit the whole country,” Patterson said.
The NIKE XC Town Twlight race has drawn 3,400 runners in past events, with 1,800 to 2,000 runners participating in state middle school events. However, when parents and spectators are added, Patterson said that equates to about 15,000 people a day.
The cross-country season kicks off on Saturday with the “Valley Kickoff” hosted by Terre Haute South Vigo High School. The running event will feature 70 teams with both men’s and women’s cross-country team runners. A full schedule can be found at www.laverngibson.com/schedule.html.
Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached at 812-231-4204 or howard[email protected]. Follow us on Twitter @TriboStarHoward.