Louisville Has It All!

Louisville’s unique brand of Southern hospitality, one-of-a kind attractions, rich culinary scene, convenience, and affordability make it a world-class destination for any meeting or event. Read our exclusive interview with the Louisville Tourism team!

What makes Louisville a great place for faith-based meetings?

Louisville is known as a welcoming and inclusive city, earning a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index every year since 2015, a streak that continues with the latest released ratings. The city was also named a compassionate city in 2011 by Mayor Greg Fischer.

One of Louisville’s biggest international draws is the Muhammad Ali Center. Guided by The Greatest’s six core principles: Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, Respect and Spirituality, the Muhammad Ali Center strives to inspire visitors to pursue greatness in their own lives, communities and countries. The Center’s three levels of award-winning exhibits and galleries invite visitors to explore Muhammad Ali’s legendary life, as well as to reflect upon one’s own individual values, inner strength and character. Visitors can also follow in the ‘Footsteps of Greatness’ by embarking on a self-guided tour of local Ali touch points.

Louisville continues to garner top accolades by landing on this year’s New York Times’ ‘52 Best Places to Go in 2023’ as well as one of the ‘South’s Best Cities’ by Southern Living. Louisville’s culinary scene is on fire. The city is home to over 2,500 independent restaurants which receive many culinary accolades annually, including one of “America’s Favorite Cities for Food” by Travel + Leisure. You might even remember seeing Louisville featured on the 16th season of Bravo’s Top Chef.

What are some of Louisville’s unique and major meeting spaces?

We are a unique city in having essentially two “convention packages” as Louisville is one of the only cities its size to have two large convention and event facilities. The downtown convention center, Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC), is located in the heart of Louisville. KICC completed a $207 million expansion in 2018, making it a top-tier convention center and a business hub with 200,000+ sq ft of contiguous meeting space, a 40,000 sq ft ballroom, 175-seat conference theater and 52 meeting rooms. With abundant natural light and windows overlooking downtown, KICC was designed to be both aesthetically beautiful as well as sustainably built earning the venue a LEED Silver Certification. KICC is a few blocks walking distance to many of the city’s major attractions as well as a variety of offsite venues.

Additionally, the award-winning Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC) sits adjacent to the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and boasts indoor and outdoor exhibit space unmatched in the event industry. KEC is sprawling at 1.2 million square feet of climate-controlled event space, 356 acres of outdoor space along with 25,000 surface-level parking spaces.

Louisville is no stranger to hosting large events – from the largest rock festival in America (Louder than Life) to the annual Run for the Roses at the Kentucky Derby, to several other prestigious events including PGA Championships, NCAA tournaments, international soccer and the largest U.S. girls’ youth basketball tournament.

Louisville has a number of elite facilities that help attract prominent events including historic Churchill Downs, KFC Yum! Center and Lynn Family Stadium as well as the 2021 addition of the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center, a $53 million-dollar one-of-a-kind multi-sport complex that can be utilized by groups for events and off-site meetings.

Louisville offers an entertainment and dining hub with Fourth Street Live!, a downtown one-stop destination for entertainment venues. The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, Frazier History Museum, Belle of Louisville/Mary Miller vessels and underground Mega Caverns are just some of the city’s unique event spaces.

What are some new or upcoming enhancements to Louisville that would interest event planners?

Louisville’s largest hotel and only riverfront hotel, The Galt House Hotel, has approximately 1300 rooms and boasts more than 130,000 sq ft of meeting space. The hotel completed an extensive $80M renovation in 2020 and features multiple on-site restaurants including Swizzle, a supper-club-inspired hub with sweeping views of the Ohio River.

The Grady, one of Louisville’s boutique properties, opened in May 2021 with 51 rooms. The building is from 1883 and celebrates Louisville’s story with unique equestrian themes and symbolic touches playing homage to its former tenant, an apothecary located in the building’s basement.

Hotel Genevieve, named after a French saint, is expected to open May 2023 with 122 rooms, a restaurant, rooftop gathering space, and a grocery concept.

The Kentucky Exposition Center has announced a comprehensive interior and exterior upgrade in the next three to five years.