With the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati under construction, the annual Cincinnati Golf Expo was forced to find a new venue.
Due to the facility’s scale, the expo, which takes place from Feb. 7 through 10, has traditionally been held at Duke Convention Center since its founding in 2019. Typically, the Expo uses approximately 90,000 square feet of space to accommodate the large number of vendors and golf-adjacent mini-games.
Luckily for the event organizers, the Northern Kentucky Convention Center proved to be a viable alternative. Cincinnati Golf Expo Coordinator Kelsey Krahe told LINK nky that the convention center is large enough to accommodate the event.
“We are happy so far with what we have at the Convention Center and are looking forward to being there this year, and potentially next year, depending on how the construction goes with Duke,” she said.
In July 2024, the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati kicked off a large-scale renovation project to upgrade the facility. The center is the Greater Cincinnati area’s largest expo facility at 750,000 square feet. The construction project is reported to cost approximately $240 million and is estimated to finish in January 2026.
Initially opened in 1972, the Cincinnati staple’s leadership decided it was due for a significant upgrade. Upon completion, the convention center will boast 12,000 more square feet, a modernized exterior design, upgraded interior spaces and a rooftop terrace.
Since the Duke Energy Center is under construction, annual events it traditionally hosts have had to find new venues. Across the Ohio River in downtown Covington, the Northern Kentucky Convention Center has provided a solution.
The Northern Kentucky Convention Center is a 110,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2000 and boasts a 46,200-square-foot exhibit hall, 23 meeting rooms and a 22,800-square-foot carpeted ballroom. It’s governed by a board of directors appointed by that’s appointed by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Due to differing capacities, the Northern Kentucky Convention Center has had more luck attracting smaller local events rather than large-scale conventions, according to John Ellison, director of sales and marketing at the center.
“A lot of those events went to Sharonville (Convention Center), and some of them have come here,” Ellison said. “It’s more attracting more local events versus large conventions.”
Julie Kirkpatrick, president of meetNKY, the Northern Kentucky tourism bureau, said events like the Cincinnati Golf Expo anticipated the closure of the Duke Energy Center and sought out relocation venues in advance.
From Kirkpatrick’s perspective, the Northern Kentucky Convention Center’s location in Covington’s urban core boosts its marketability as an alternative venue for Duke Energy Center events. The convention center is less than a mile’s walk from multiple hotels, coffee shops and popular restaurants in downtown Covington, as well as a short walk from downtown Cincinnati.
“There are some events that absolutely wanted to be in the vibrant urban core, so they’ve moved over to the Northern Kentucky Convention Center,” Kirkpatrick said.
Furthermore, Kirkpatrick said the convention center’s carpeted exhibit hall makes it an ideal location for corporate events like the annual Kona Ice Convention and the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Dinner.
Regardless of the ongoing construction at the Duke Energy Center, Kirkpatrick and Ellison view the recent success of the Northern Kentucky Convention Center as additive for the entire region, as stakeholders in the local tourism industry collaborate to bring high-profile events to Greater Cincinnati.
“If you’re a large group and you need a large convention center, the Duke Energy Center is there, and what’s great is it creates demand for our riverfront hotels,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’re additive people, so we like to try to put things together in an additive way.”
