A little more than 1,700,000 people. That's the estimated attendance of people to visit Indianapolis in 2009 as part of some type of Indianapolis Convention or large sporting event hosted in 2009.

Almost two million people coming to our city for a variety of reasons. Many of these visitors may be traveling to Indianapolis for their first time as they attend a convention for business or other purpose this year.

To be able to host these types of events, lots of preparation needs to take place to make things a success. There are lots of other logistics that also play into the mix of success for the organizers of these events. The infrastructure of the city's hospitality network also has to be prepared to accept these attendees. Indianapolis positively has this infrastructure in place.

From the sheer amount of hotels within the downtown area and surrounding points of interest packages are being offered and sold to make sure that visitors to our city have everything they need to feel at home in our city.

The existing and expanding Indiana Convention Center provides the opportunity to host the business needs of the convention attendees, and provide the entertainment and amenities that are imortant when business is not in session.

From shopping to sports to cultural events located within our city, convention attendees have a full array of choices that appeal to their own interests while visiting our city.