BC Helped Boost Lexington Tourism Numbers

The Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland last year fueled double-digit tourism growth in Lexington in 2015, VisitLEX said Feb. 17.

Keeneland held the event Oct. 30-31. It was tied in with a festival that linked many events in Central Kentucky.

"We are excited to report that 2015 was a very successful year for Lexington, both locally and nationally," VisitLEX president Mary Quinn Ramer said. "Local pride and homegrown innovation continue to reshape and evolve our dining, bourbon, and craft beer scenes, inspiring more visitors and garnering attention from critically acclaimed publications.

"On a larger scale, Lexington successfully set the scene for American Pharoah  's incredible Grand Slam victory at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland, solidifying our title as the 'Horse Capital of the World' and placing us at the center of an iconic moment in Thoroughbred racing history."

Statistics released by VisitLEX show that hotel room revenue increased 11% because of a 1.6% increase in occupancy to 64.5%. The tourism organization said demand for hotel rooms grew 5.5% to almost 1.8 million last year.

The increase in hotel rooms booked through convention sales, which reached 102,575, was up double digits; hotel room revenue topped $173 million; and room taxes totaled more than $10 million.

The Breeders' Cup played a key role in the uptick in numbers. Bob Elliston, chief operating officer of Breeders' Cup, said the organization is still having the methodology developed for its own economic impact study of the 2015 event, but the VisitLEX numbers provide a big-picture look.

"Clearly, Lexington put on a show for Breeders' Cup and made it an incredible event in Lexington," Elliston said. "The converse is (the city) got back what it put into it. Lexington took full advantage of all the amenities here. From our perspective it was a win-win at the highest level."

In 2015 almost 30 new restaurants and bars opened in the city, which now has eight craft breweries and a new "Brewgrass Trail."

VisitLEX said Lexington was featured in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, and Garden & Gun magazine. VisitLEX said it served as host to almost 60 travel writers from across the country.

"I don't how you measure that, but I think it's very big," Elliston said. "It's really about the impression left with people from around the world (who came to Lexington)."

Breeders' Cup officials last year said involvement by the host community was the biggest in the history of the event, which was launched in 1984. Many of the things Lexington did will be used as a template for future host sites.