State of Porter County tourism: Indiana Dunes Tourism generates $25.6 million in state and local taxes
Christine Livingston, CEO of Indiana Dunes Tourism, shared the stage with leadership from both Indiana Dunes State Park and Indiana Dunes National Park. She said one recent highlight of the effort was Indiana Dunes National Park Superintendent Jason Taylor inviting all the counties and affected organizations together for a brainstorming session.
'It was just a really refreshing change in our process,' Livingston said.
She and the park directors addressed a full crowd at the Indiana Dunes Visitors Center in Porter. Local officials in attendance included Porter County Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center, Porter County Council President Andy Vasquez, R-4th, and County Councilman Greg Simms, D-3rd.
Funded by the Accommodation Tax, Indiana Dunes Tourism spearheads branding.
'This is a powerful economic engine,' Livingston said, mentioning products ranging from special sand-colored chocolate bars to Sand + Steel themed mugs. 'A lot of businesses are starting to realize when you brand something with Indiana Dunes it sells.'
Businesses are not the only shareholders top of mind. Livingston said work is constantly underway to figure ways to keep the local communities happy with the impact of four million visitors a year, 'which, frankly, I don't think, historically, tourism has done,' she said.
Indiana Dunes Tourism generates $25.6 million in state and local taxes. The Visitors Center alone sees 230,000 visitors per year. 'People can't really visualize 6,000 people in one weekend,' Livingston said. 'We have lines out the door.'
It's a symbiotic relationship with the state and local parks, where all those folks are eventually headed.
'These people have been in a pressure cooker trying to deal with all the recent changes and they are killing it,' Livingston said before turning the mic over to Doug Lang, park manager for Indiana Dunes State Park.
He lead with an announcement that the park was honored with the 2024 Property Achievement Award that only goes to one of the state's 36 state parks each year. 'That goes out to our great staff, our volunteers, residents, visitors,' Lang said.
The park is celebrating 100 years in 2025. A birthday celebration is planned for the summer. Lead Naturalist Becky Hughes has created a 100-year Challenge. 'You're going to visit a lot of historical sites in the park in order to do it,' Lang said.
The Nature Center, which sees about 115,000 visitors per year, will get a full scale gift shop in three weeks. 'One of the goals this year is to educate the public,' Lang said of efforts to impact responsible park use, such as asking people to carry out what they bring in.
Lang also spoke of collaboration, giving credit to the national park and the town of Porter for assisting with a water main break at the state park last week. Various entities are also joining forces for prescribed burns. State park staff helped national park staff with a burn and Shirley Heinze Land Trust assisted the state park with one.
Jason Taylor, superintendent of Indiana Dunes National Park, gave a wide overview of the park, including new attendance trends. 'Visitation is increasing in the summer months and also in the shoulder months, so our visitation season is increasing,' he said.
That led to $140 million in direct local spending in 2023 with $206 million in economic output in the gateway communities generated annually. These figures come in the wake of $15 million in annual operating expenses.
Taylor gave a shout out to Friends of the Indiana Dunes and Save the Dunes, two non-profits that he said 'are hugely important to things that we do at the national park and the state park.'
He reported national approval to move forward with Phases 2 and 3 of the Marquette Greenway Trail. 'This is really a partnership of activity,' Lang said. 'It's one big, happy family trying to build this trail.'
Structure preservation is also in full swing with a complete renovation of the Goodfellow Lodge underway as well as exterior preservation to Bailly Homestead. Cypress House is now available for rental a week at a time and 'there's some hope that House of Tomorrow and some other structures can fit that bill and people can have more access in future,' Lang said.
He added that since becoming a national park in 2019 the staff has been doing a lot to try to 'live into the name.' Right now that encompasses everything from providing more in-park housing for staff to focusing on the Back to Beach Strategy with such additions as roving interpreters right on the beach.
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