Muskegon County CVB reports rising tourism, flags festival and waterfront infrastructure needs

Muskegon County Community Development Director Bob Lukens briefed the county Opportunity Development and Strategic Planning Committee on Jan. 16 on the Convention and Visitor Bureau’s year‑in‑review, saying visitation and hotel development increased in fiscal 2024 while festival and waterfront infrastructure needs could limit future growth.

Lukens said the CVB printed 45,000 copies of a new visitor guide distributed across the Midwest — including Toledo, Cleveland and the Chicago–Milwaukee corridor — and made the guide available online with QR codes linking to local tourism pages. He told commissioners the bureau recorded about 2,300,000 visitors who made roughly 20,800,000 visits in FY 2024 and that visitors living more than 100 miles away generated about 4,600,000 visits, a group the CVB targets because they are likelier to stay overnight.

"We prepped 45,000 copies of this. It's distributed throughout really the Midwest," Lukens said. He also highlighted lodging and development activity, listing new and upcoming properties: Lumberman's Vault and Liquid Assets in downtown, Hansen Hill Waterfront Grill near White Lake, Muskegon Brewing Company at Adelaide Point, a Holiday Inn Express on U.S. 31, the renovation of the former Hackley administration building (marketed as Hackley Castle) into a boutique hotel, and a 40‑room Element by Marriott in the Terrace Plaza area. Lukens said Adelaide Point and the Shaw Walker project remain under construction and that some projects may add apartments and condos within two years.

The CVB also tracked convention business and cruise calls: 15 cruise ship calls in 2024 and 16 scheduled for 2025, Lukens said. For FY 2024 the CVB recorded 32 conferences that produced about 6,700 room nights and 6,400 visitors; for 2025 he said the bureau already had 24 conferences booked representing about 9,300 room nights and 7,400 visitors, with additional definite leads for 2026 totaling roughly 2,800 room nights and 2,200 visitors.

Lodging metrics such as occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) have generally risen through November 2024, Lukens said. He also told the committee short‑term rentals are a growing part of the lodging inventory: "From what we understand, over 300 short term rentals in Muskegon County," and staff will return in the spring to discuss potential policy changes.

Commissioners pressed on festival operations and waterfront infrastructure at Heritage Landing, where Lukens said the site lacks permanent restrooms, backstage areas, additional electrical capacity and sufficient water‑and‑sewer hookups. He described festival setup costs as high—citing about $40,000 to stage a recent Bassmasters event—and said promoters now pay a flat daily rental rate of $32.50 for Heritage Landing (replacing an earlier per‑ticket service charge). Lukens added that some large festivals cover six‑figure costs; he said the Irish Festival has paid more than $100,000 and donated $50,000 to food banks.

"It's expensive upgrades," Lukens said of improvements needed at Heritage Landing. He and commissioners discussed the city's ongoing waterfront planning and the need for shovel‑ready plans to secure grants that could fund infrastructure work.

Lukens summarized staffing changes at the CVB and collaborative partnerships with statewide groups — including Circle Michigan, Cruise the Great Lakes, the Michigan Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus, Michigan's Beach Towns, SGMP and MPI — and highlighted the Muskegon Museum of Art expansion, which he said is a roughly $16–$17 million building project plus about $10 million in new art acquisitions scheduled to open in early February.

Commissioner Nash urged county support for timely upgrades and public engagement as nearby cities expand competing festivals and waterfront amenities. Lukens said he has been coordinating with county administration and city representatives on waterfront concepts and grant readiness and will follow up on conference recruitment and short‑term rental policy work.

The committee opened the meeting with standard business motions: the agenda and the Dec. 12, 2024 minutes were approved. No formal policy decisions or funding authorizations related to waterfront upgrades, festivals or short‑term rental rules were made at the session; staff were asked to pursue follow‑up work and report back to the committee.

Where appropriate, the CVB presentation relied on Placer.ai visitation analytics and Simpleview marketing and customer‑relationship tools, Lukens told commissioners.