Don Welsh Moves From Seattle to Indiana
-- Tradeshow Week, 7/7/2008
Donald P. Welsh, current president and CEO of the Seattle Convention & Visitors Bureau, will pick up stakes and take the top spot at the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Authority, effective Aug. 1. Welsh will succeed Bob Bedell, who announced his retirement in December.
“Don is one of the most extraordinary leaders of the convention, tourism and hospitality industry in all of North America,” said Jim Morris, president of Pacers Sport & Entertainment and the ICVA board member who chaired the search committee. “When he came here to visit, he displayed a genuine passion for our community and the importance of this activity for the economy of Indianapolis and Central Indiana.”
Welsh is going to Indianapolis at a fortuitous time. In August, the Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Indianapolis Colts will play their home games, will open where the RCA Dome once stood next to the Indiana Convention Center. Ground also has been broken on an expansion of the convention center. Exhibit space will increase from 493,123 square feet to 745,000 sq. ft., and meeting room space will expand from 142,827 sq. ft. to 190,050 sq. ft. The project is expected to be completed in 2010.
In addition, the ICVA recently announced a multi-hotel project surrounding the Indiana CC that would add 7,100 total rooms in downtown Indianapolis, 4,700 of which will be joined by skyways to the center and Lucas Oil Stadium by 2011, according to ICVA spokesman Chris Gahl.
Welsh said the extra space and rooms will help “retain existing customers that are getting too big.”
“(The growth) is really going to move Indianapolis into a Tier I city for conventions,” he added.
Prior to becoming president and CEO at the Seattle CVB, Welsh served as its senior vice president for sales and marketing from 2003 to 2005. He also held various posts in the hotel industry, including a stint at Westin Hotels & Resorts, where he worked with Bedell.
“He's a terrific president, and I'm sure he'll do great things for Indianapolis,” said Dave Blanford, the Seattle CVB's spokesman.
