Attracting tourism to local communities

Local Sources- In this week's Column from State Senator Mark Messmer, Senator Messmer discusses attracting tourism to local communities.

From organizing the largest single-day sporting event — the Indianapolis 500 — to hosting a combined 11 NCAA Men's and Women's Final Fours, Indiana has emerged as a hub for major sporting and tourism events.

Locally, Senate District 48 hosts many events including county fairs, festivals and summer concerts. When I'm in Indianapolis at the Statehouse, Hoosiers from across the state excitedly share with me that they've been to the Jasper Strassenfest or the Ferdinand Christkindlmarkt.

To ensure communities like ours, as well as others across Indiana, have proper resources to attract and host and attract new events to the area, I supported Senate Enrolled Act 245 during the Indiana General Assembly's 2022 session.

SEA 245 establishes a statewide sports and tourism bid fund to help Indiana communities access additional resources they may need to hold major events.

To encourage equal opportunity around the state, the new law requires the Indiana Sports Corporation to ensure no less than 30% of the funds are utilized for events outside of Marion County.

Not only will this funding help Indiana become more competitive in attracting major events, it will also provide local communities with more opportunities to stimulate economic growth, especially as the the state's sports and tourism industry expands.

We continue to see what large events mean to Hoosier businesses and the overall success of Indiana. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the Indiana Destination Development Corporation estimated there were 82.7 million visitors to the state who spent a total of $13.7 billion. SEA 245 is helping us regain this momentum.

This fund has the potential to help Senate District 48 attract more sports and tourism opportunities to the area and I look forward to the impact it will have on Indiana.

As always, feel free to contact my office directly with your questions and concerns by email at [email protected] or by phone at 800-382-9467.