St. Joseph County planning for tourism uptick
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Destination marketing organization Visit South Bend Mishawaka, in partnership with the St. Joseph County Board of Managers for Hotel-Motel Tax, is working on a 10-year strategic tourism master plan for the county.
The plan will help guide investment opportunities in the region, attracting new visitors and highlighting areas for improvement, the organization says.
In February, the group engaged in candid discussions with hoteliers, restaurateurs, elected officials and staff from South Bend, Mishawaka, Walkerton, Osceola, North Liberty and New Carlisle. Executive Director Jeff Jarnecke said the process will culminate in a final report scheduled to drop in July detailing the future of the county’s tourism operations.
“The next phase will include a survey that will be available to residents, visitors and stakeholders to elicit some additional feedback,” he said. “Then we’ll move into visioning workshops in April, to start to really imagine what these sorts of investments could do and could mean for St. Joseph County.”
The effort comes as the region prepares for more tourism growth this year with the addition of several new attractions.
Planning with residents in mind is fundamental to a successful rural tourism plan, said Liping Cai, director of the Purdue University Tourism & Hospitality Research Center. Cities that think of and engage their internal audience stand a better chance for reaching their tourism goals and building capacity, he said.
“It’s both physical and emotional capacity. How many people can you accommodate in terms of hotel rooms, restaurants, and public infrastructure?” are some questions Cai recommends cities answer before welcoming visitors. “How many visitors can residents accommodate emotionally?”
Cai pioneered the cooperative branding model for rural destinations that encourages collective good over individual possibility. Instead of just one city working on a plan, he said a regional approach produces lasting results.
South Bend’s economy surpassed pre-COVID levels in 2023, reaching record numbers within St. Joseph County. Jobs grew about 2% and hotels are back to being fully staffed, but Jarnecke noted there’s still a lot of jobs waiting to be filled within the hospitality sector.
“We were able to book more than 43,000 rooms and 91 events with an economic impact of about $27 million this past year. The parts we can control are incredibly strong,” Jarnecke said. “By and large, we feel like we’re in a really strong position and are seeing continued growth on the back of those groups and the business that we’re able to draw into St. Joseph County because of tourism.”
The University of Notre Dame leads the way in attracting visitors to the area. As a global brand, Jarnecke said the school is hugely popular and has an incredible outreach.
“Whether that’s to check a UND game off a bucket list, or just to see the grotto or the golden dome, or experience the beautiful campus, of the 5.3 million people we welcomed into St. Joseph County last year, more than half are coming because of the University of Notre Dame,” he added.
The area’s seasonality also makes it a top destination for adventure seekers looking to experience the river or go hiking in milder temperatures or go cross-country skiing or downhill skiing in the winter.
Easy access to Detroit, Chicago and Indianapolis also makes the region attractive to tourists and new residents alike looking for substantially more affordable housing and health care.
“While we have some work to do, we’re working with our partners throughout the region to ensure that not only can we continue to do what we’re doing and do it even better, but adding to the attractions and adding to those elements that we have here in St. Joseph County allows us to differentiate what we do here,” Jarnecke said.
For 2024, two projects are top of mind for Visit South Bend Mishawaka. The Indiana Dinosaur Museum and the new Mishawaka Fieldhouse hold exponential potential for the region’s tourism industry.
The sports facility can be turned into 10 basketball courts, 19 volleyball courts and 14 pickleball courts, translating to about a million people through the doors in a given year and around 20,000 room nights contributed to the hotel economy, Jarnecke noted.
Four Winds Casino opened a 23-story, 317-room hotel as part of efforts to expand its service offering. The hotel celebrates its one-year anniversary this month and Jarnecke describes it as an “incredible addition” to the county.
“They are among some of the nicest rooms and spaces that we have,” he said. “It’s bringing a new and different visitor to St. Joseph County. It’s been an incredible partnership and a wonderful addition to our region.”
What started as a search for a new factory location for veteran businessman Mark Tarner morphed into the Indiana Dinosaur Museum, set to open in May. The founder of the South Bend Chocolate Co, Tarner will have his new chocolate factory, a farm, and a public house on the same site as the museum.
“Wedding the chocolate company and the dinosaur museum may sound a little far-fetched, but it would make sense when you come visit,” Tarner said. “Chocolate is kind of mysterious to people; we want to know how the center gets in there. Dinosaurs are certainly mythical and most people grew up being interested in dinosaurs, so wedding the two would actually be a catalyst for my chocolate company.”
Tarner runs the Chocolate Cafe across Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, a couple restaurants and food and beverage operations at South Bend International Airport. He took up paleontology as a hobby and was enthralled when he started finding rare dinosaur remains.
“He is front and center in the tourism and hospitality space here,” Jarnecke said. “He’s bullish on it to the tune of investing his own money, time and energy to build this unique experience.”
Based on in-depth analysis of what museums get right and wrong, Tarner said his museum is built for the iPhone age and adopts what he calls the “museum theater experience” where patrons watch introductory videos before experiencing the exhibition.
This is also the only time Tarner has had to borrow money for one of his ventures, as his conviction has always been to grow within his means.
“This debt is about $13 million, but we’ve also thrown a lot of cash at it and we’ve had tremendous assistance from the city and state to make this dream come true,” he said. “Indiana has to grow, we have to build an environment that creates a magnet for people to come. I have a lot of faith in what’s going on here.”
About five tourism-based businesses opened in the vicinity over the past year including the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame which Jarnecke described as “an absolutely exquisite world class presentation of works of art.”
“It’s going to be an absolute destination for not only art lovers but for special event operators and those who want to experience campus,” he commented. “Some smaller operations either expanded or opened new locations. A few restaurants and arcades also opened.”
Visit South Bend Mishawaka, a department of the South Bend Regional Chamber, is the destination management and marketing organization for St. Joseph County, providing information and resources for those visiting our communities.
“2024 stands to be a banner year for us from a tourism and hospitality perspective,” Jarnecke said.