Butch Spyridon

“Tourism is our business - the direct impact of the hospitality industry in Nashville is $3.5 billion annually with over 10 million visitors to Music City every year.” Spyridon acknowledged the need to keep an eye on the gloomy economic climate;. however, Spyridon also says booking Music City Center is going well so far. Spyridon has garnered four major bookings for the Music City Center beginning in 2013. “We started knocking on doors in April,” Spyridon said. “The response is beyond anything I would have expected.” Spyridon added that the goal was to book 100,000 rooms before the end of the year and have one million rooms booked before the proposed center opens in 2013. The barometer currently used to measure booking success of the existing Convention Center is that hotel rooms stay booked at about 70 percent, Spyridon said. The Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau sells and markets Nashville, Music City, to the world as a premier entertainment destination for travelers who seek authentic and unique leisure and convention experiences. Locals rarely see their work - they enjoy the results.