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Visitor bureau reports midyear visitor surge; offers geofence data to support grant requests
Summary
The Kosciusko County Visitors Bureau reported notable midyear increases in visits and engagement and told commissioners it can supply geofencing/cell-data to verify out‑of‑county visitors for grant applications.
Corey, representing the Kosciusko County Visitors Bureau, told the Tourism Commission on July 14 that midyear tourism indicators have strengthened and that the bureau can provide geofencing data to support grant applications.
Corey said the bureau has seen substantial increases in visitor traffic and online engagement this year and offered to produce reports that show where visitors originate. "Halfway through the year we've welcomed about 1.3 million visitors," Corey said, adding that visitor‑guide requests and e‑newsletter subscriptions are up markedly compared with last year. He said the CVB has been running a mix of out‑of‑market billboard, digital and streaming campaigns and will share deliverables and campaign results with the commission and applicants on request.
Commissioners discussed practical ways to integrate that data into the grant process. Staff proposed adding language to the grant form or creating a web page where applicants can request CVB geofence or place‑based data, which the bureau can pull on a case‑by‑case basis. "If you want to make it part of the grant and maybe so you if anyone comes back and want to see those particular numbers for a previous year event, happy to do that," Corey said.
Why it matters: For tourism-oriented grants, commissioners said they need evidence that marketing spending brings nonlocal visitors to the county; CVB-provided data could make grant approvals clearer and easier to audit. Staff said the bureau's reports may require a short lead time (a few days) to geofence a new location.
What they did: The commission discussed modifying the grant application process to include a way to request CVB metrics; no formal policy change was adopted at the meeting. The bureau also distributed its midyear marketing and visitation metrics for commissioners to review.
