New master plan seeks to boost tourism in Fort Wayne, Allen County
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Officials in Allen County are looking at ways to boost tourism over the next decade. Visit Fort Wayne on Tuesday released its 10-year Tourism Master Plan, which was developed after a year-long effort that included input from residents and community stakeholders.
The official convention and visitors bureau for Fort Wayne and Allen County said the plan represents a blueprint to help the community serve as a catalyst for post-Covid recovery in the tourism industry and grow quality of life for residents in the county.
Jessa Campbell, director of destination development and communications for Visit Fort Wayne, told Inside INdiana Business the idea stemmed from the growth Fort Wayne has seen over the last decade.
“With that growth comes opportunity, and in conversations with the city of Fort Wayne and Greater Fort Wayne, our boss saw the opportunity to put together a plan that was rooted in what our destination wanted, what our residents wanted to see in terms of quality of life and quality of place, and really, what would be good for them would be good for tourism and good for visitors.”
The bureau tapped CSL International, an advisory and planning firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to lead the development of the plan, supported by a steering committee comprised of 12 community leaders.
The firm spent 20 weeks collecting data, meeting with stakeholders, holding visioning workshops, and identifying destinations similar to Fort Wayne with which the city may compete.
The plan outlines 20 recommendations that are prioritized into six strategic focus areas: foundational, downtown Fort Wayne, group business, regional tourism development, riverfront development, and tourism product development.
Campbell said the overlying goal throughout all 20 recommendations is to be an accessible destination.
“Our community celebrates this asset that we have in our community, the community spirit of it, and we know we have room to grow,” she said. “Capitalizing on that spirit of our community, we’ve put that as the foundation of our plan to build with intention but also build with accessibility in mind to be universally accessible for all travelers and all residents.”
The goals and recommendations will be addressed in partnership with various organizations, government agencies and community partners, Visit Fort Wayne said.
Visit Fort Wayne itself will be working on four of the recommendations this year along, including addressing accessibility, growing the city’s the music economy, creating a “sport entity” to direct and manage sports events and activities, and addressing the hospitality labor shortage.
While much of the plan is centered on Fort Wayne, Campbell notes that the entire county is included.
“It’s really a vision for our whole community to help uplift voices that haven’t maybe been heard in a while, to really just be that community voice and celebrating what we do have but also finding opportunities for us to develop and grow,” she said.
You can connect to the full Tourism Master Plan by clicking here, and you can also view the plan’s executive summary here.