As the leaves continue to fall and we rush toward the holiday season, often and thankfully so, we take time to offer gratitude and give thanks. Here in St. Joseph County, we have 1.2 billion additional reasons to be grateful.
Last year, more than 5.3 million visitors came to St. Joseph County and had an economic impact of more than $1.2 billion. Although those numbers may be difficult to fully grasp, what is not are the more than 11,700 jobs that resulted from tourism.
With the visitors coming to our region, nearly 58% experienced St. Joseph County for the first time and generally enjoyed it for two days. Our challenge and opportunity is not only to ensure it is a wonderful and memorable visit, but to also get them to come back.
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While having visitors in our communities is so critically important to our economy, those in the hospitality space and the venues they represent are even more important. We are fortunate to be home to six colleges and universities in St. Joseph County and are often buoyed by the University of Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish.
Beyond the college setting, our 54 hotels fill nearly one million room nights per year. From youth hockey teams this winter to professional Scrabble players who will compete in July at Century Center, these 5,400 rooms provide a comfortable setting and backdrop for visitors to enjoy.
Of course, we cannot forget the many attractions and experiences we have as well. Yet this year, the new world-class Raclin Murphy Museum of Art will open at Notre Dame, and next year, we will welcome the Indiana Dinosaur Museum and Mishawaka Fieldhouse.
While we are proud of our shared work, this year we will likely experience our first decline in hotel demand and visitation to the county in the last six years, beyond the challenges associated with the pandemic. Hotel occupancy across the entire state is down about 2% compared to this point last year and we, in Northern Indiana, are feeling that challenge even more.
We are bullish about our community and all it has to offer, but we know we must continue to evolve and create those memorable experiences. To help develop, create, and capture what is next, we are working across the county to create a "tourism master plan."
With the guidance of Convention, Sports & Leisure, a consultancy organization based in Minnesota, we look forward to brainstorming and formalizing a vision that unifies our collective work within the hospitality space in St. Joseph County. The project will begin in January, and we’ll look forward to sharing the final vision in mid-summer.