Charlotte tourism executive pleased with latest CIAA run

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Fourteen in the books and — at least — one more to go. The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association wrapped up its annual college basketball tournaments in uptown Charlotte over the weekend, with Virginia Union claiming its second straight women’s title and Virginia State winning the men’s championship.

['No pride like the 704': CMPD reports no major incidents during CIAA weekend]

In January, the CIAA board selected Baltimore as its tournament site for three years beginning in 2021. The other finalists were Charlotte and Norfolk, Virginia. Losing the CIAA means hotels and restaurants will soon be without the city’s most lucrative annual tourism event.

Hotel bookings and rates will be available later this week from industry analyst STR for last week’s tournament. The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority and the CIAA plan to compile fan surveys for an economic impact study scheduled to be finished in May.

“The week went really smoothly,” visitors authority CEO Tom Murray told me Monday afternoon, summing up the CIAA in 2019. “I walked the streets a lot (during the tournament) and everybody was pretty pleased with how it went.”

Read the full story here.

Cox Media Group