INDIANAPOLIS — It’s been a record tourism year for downtown Indianapolis with the NBA All-Star Game, solar eclipse and soon the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials.
That’s on top of hundreds of events at the Indiana Convention Center.
This week, the Sweets and Snacks Expo is taking over 250,000 square feet of the center for its three-day event.
This is the expo’s first year in a new partnership with Indianapolis. The expo was here in 2021 for a smaller version during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, the expo signed a deal with Indy to come back six times over the next decade.
“I mean, that Hoosier hospitality is a really big draw for us, but we saw Indianapolis as a city on the rise and because of that, it is the perfect place for Sweets and Snacks," said Karly Schildhaus, spokesperson for Sweets and Snacks. "The city hosts so many world-class events, and Sweets and Snacks wanted to join those ranks."
This year, there are more than 16,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors at the trade show, which is a record for the annual expo.
As conventions grow, the city knows it has to grow, too.
It’s why last summer, crews broke ground on the convention center’s sixth expansion at the Pan Am Plaza. It also includes the construction of a 40-story, 800-room Signia by Hilton hotel.
The project is expected to be done in the summer of 2026.
Also this week, developers submitted plans to build a 10-story hotel across from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. It would be the city's first Tempo by Hilton property.
The 167 rooms would replace the parking lot on the corner of Pennsylvania and Maryland streets.
Visit Indy said these additional hotels are necessary to keep conventions coming back and attract new ones.
"We have heard feedback directly from conventions that convene regularly in the city that in order for them to remain in Indianapolis, we need to grow our hotel product,” said Morgan Snyder, with Visit Indy.
The Sweets and Snacks Expo will return to Indy in 2025. The trade show is not open to the public.