QUALITY OF LIFE

Strategy 3:

Develop and expand local and regional tourism opportunities.

About The Objectives

The final strategy for this pillar focuses on tourism. The IND15RPC region has several popular tourist attractions including Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari, French Lick Resort, Patoka Lake, and Hoosier National Forest. However, many of these destinations are not heavily visited during the colder months of the year. This strategy focuses on three objectives to help the region enhance the existing tourism destinations through targeted marketing and programming efforts.

Tourism Trails

Tourism trails are not physical trails for bikes and pedestrians but instead are suggested routes throughout the region themed to showcase regionally produced goods or services and tourist destinations. One such trail could include an outdoor adventure trail to connect boating and skiing at Patoka Lake, hiking and ziplining in Hoosier National

Forest, and riding the roller coasters at Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari. Another tourism trail might be centered around rail travel and could include the Spirit of Jasper, the French Lick Scenic Railway, and the Ohio River Scenic Railway along with visits to the Depot Railway Museum, Indiana Railway Museum, and the Jasper City Mill. Ecotourism and recreation are large draws for people to visit for a day or extended weekend. Some options include Spring Mill State Park, cave tours such as Marengo Cave and Wyandotte Cave, canoeing, kayaking, and paddle boarding. Food tourism trails are often popular and can be marketed year-round. Tourism trails can be developed to encourage longer stays in the region for visitors as well as invite residents to the region for events and holidays throughout the year. This would encourage longer visits while also extending the season for the different destinations.

Year-Round Programming and Activities

Although the IND15RPC region brings in millions of visitors each year, the majority of these visits happen during warmer months of the year. This creates challenges for the businesses and service industries that rely on tourists during the winter months. Creating tourism trails can drive more visits to the area during the off-season but additional amenities and facilities are needed to create a truly year-round tourism market. Adding lodging options near Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari could create a supplemental attraction that would bring visitors to the area and allow the park to stay open later in the season. The park currently opens for the Halloween Weekend and could include additional themed events during the off-season.

Additional winter programming similar to the cross-country skiing currently occurring in the Hoosier National Forest or the educational hikes provided at Patoka Lake could be added to the state parks or other destinations to increase attendance for outdoor amenities during the winter months. The region should also continue to collaborate and partner with existing lodging facilities such as French Lick Resort to create events during the holidays to encourage multi-day trips to the towns within the region.

The region should continue to develop year- round programs for people to attend and enjoy and market the events to bring in visitors. To encourage people to stay in the area for a long weekend, additional hotels or lodging options may need to be developed to support an influx of visitors. Options for communities to consider when looking at expanding their tourism opportunities include ice skating in the winter, shopping, dining experiences, and hosting various events if space is available such as indoor concerts and comedy shows at local auditoriums, theaters, amphitheatres, and sporting events.

Visitors Center

The regional tourism, marketing, and visitors center would create a team of individuals focused on creating and promoting regional tourism. Although some of these initiatives are conducted by state entities such as Explore Indiana and local visitors bureaus, this center would be focused on collaborating with the different counties and communities to create programs that highlight the region and increase visits during all seasons. A large task for this organization will be creating and distributing marketing to other areas of the state and across the nation. The area has a large number of tourist destinations that are attractive to a broad audience that just may not be aware of what is available in the IND15RPC region.