Report: Indy banked with Super Bowl ads

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indianapolis has its first indication that efforts to entice out-of-towners to stay in the city the week before the Super Bowl, worked.

The Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association spent $115,000 on a regional ad campaign, and numbers just released indicate it was money well spent.

According to STR research, Marion County hotel demand for the week leading up to Super Bowl weekend brought in between $6 million and $7 million in extra hotel revenue compared to a year ago.

The research found occupancy in Marion County hotels was up 26.3 percent Jan. 27 thru Feb. 1, compared to a year earlier. Statewide, hotel occupancy was up 13.5 percent over a year ago.

The ICVA radio and internet ad campaign targeted potential visitors in four cities, Detroit, Chicago, Louisville and Cincinnati, said Chris Gahl, senior manager of Media Relations for ICVA.

"Clicking on it took a potential visitor on a landing page with everything to do and see about the Super Bowl and the option to book a hotel room," he said.

Those four cities were targeted for a reason, he said: "We were able to pull research and show that Detroit, Louisville Chicago and Cincinnati, based on NFL franchises, proximity and past travel trends, were most likely to come visit."

The increase in revenue is only for hotel occupancy and doesn't include money that was spent at restaurants and other retailers. Numbers on that impact are still being tabulated.