Tourism in Knox County is a booming business.
Local historic and tourist sites — such as Grouseland, the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center and the newly-expanded Indiana Military Museum — contributed more than $95 million to Knox County's economy in 2014.
Of that, about $68 million was purchases made by tourists at local shops, restaurants and hotels. Food and beverage, shopping and transportation purchases accounted for three out of every four dollars spent, according to the report.
Four years ago, in 2010, tourism contributed significantly less, about $80 million, to the local economy.
And in addition, in 2014, the local tourism industry generated $22.4 million in tax revenues — $8.2 million to the state and another $4.4 million to Knox County specifically.
That's up from $19 million in tax revenue in 2010.
Also reported in the study, local residents spent $5.9 million to visit their own tourist sites, which directly contributed to the creation of 80 new jobs.
Tourism-related jobs provided nearly $18.7 million in wages to county workers compared to $15.9 million three years before.
Shyla Beam, the VTB's executive director, said officials there contribute the increase in visitors to the expansion and relocation of the Indiana Military Museum downtown and the opening of the Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy on the campus of Vincennes University in 2014.
“With the addition of those two (sites), our tour groups have doubled,” Beam said. “We've also hosted several conferences and sporting events.
“Our mini-grant program helps to fund both new and existing events that bring people into our community, and our marketing efforts continue to evolve with both digital and print opportunities.”
Vincennes was recently host to about 300 historic preservationists as part of the Indiana Statewide Preservation Conference, and in April hundreds of senior bowlers rolled into Indiana's oldest city as a part of the 2016 Indiana Open Seniors Singles Tournament.
Beam believes those groups — and more to come — will mean another increase when the report is done again in three years.
Anne Pratt, director of marketing for the Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy, said visitors now average about 7,000 per year. The museum has also been drawing at least 75 tour groups annually, and with increased marketing efforts to different areas of the state officials are expecting even more in the future.
“I just think all this is great because I'm such a proponent of small towns and what they have to offer,” Pratt said. “We have become a tourist destination for so many people, and it's great because it gives us a chance to show off how great our community is.”
Local tourism officials also believe the ongoing bicentennial celebrations have brought — and will continue to bring — an unprecedented number of history buffs into Vincennes. And with so many places now to visit, many of them are finding themselves in need of another day to see it all.
“We hear that all the time,” said Jim Osborne, founder and curator of the Indiana Military Museum, which drew 14,000 visitors last year. “Take, for instance, someone starts at our facility with plans to go to other places, like Grouseland, the (George Rogers Clark) memorial. They've allowed themselves 30 or 40 minutes here only to find themselves still here after an hour-and-a-half of looking around.
“They say, 'Well, it looks like we'll be spending the night.' And it's always encouraging to hear those things.”
“Most people come here and know of one or two places they want to go,” said David Weaver with State Historic Sites. “But once they get here, they learn about all the other opportunities — the national park, Grouseland, the military museum, us.
“They just don't realize all we have to offer.”
And Lisa Ice-Jones, executive director of the Grouseland Foundation, said she, too, finds that visitors simply can't do it all in one day anymore.
“People are lingering here in town,” she said. “They're going to all the different sites and museums.”
Ice-Jones said Grouseland, especially, has gotten national publicity, what with an appearance on NBC's “Parks and Recreation” and ones on PBS programming in Bloomington and Indianapolis.
But perhaps the best marketing tool for the local tourism industry, Ice-Jones said, are the people who have been here.
“Every time we send someone off, we say, 'Send us more visitors. If you loved it, send us more,'” Ice-Jones said. “If the positive comments — when people say, 'So glad I stopped,' or 'I'm so glad I stumbled upon this place' — if those comments could be turned into dollars, we wouldn't have to do any more fundraising.”