About Indiana Dunes Tourism

Who We Are

Indiana Dunes Tourism is the official destination marketing, planning, and development organization, focused on sustainability, economic impact, and quality of place, for the Indiana Dunes area/Porter County, IN. Since 1986, we have been promoting the Indiana Dunes and the great communities throughout Porter County to potential visitors, as well as encouraging local residents to take advantage of all this area has to offer.

We operate the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center in partnership with the Indiana Dunes National Park. At the Visitor Center, located at 1215 N. State Road 49 in Porter, IN, you’ll find guides and personal assistance to help you enjoy Northwest Indiana and beyond. The Visitor Center, which opened in 2006, also houses restrooms, exhibits, a theatre, and a gift shop, along with our offices.

Learn about the Indiana Dunes Tourism staff and our Board of Directors to learn more about the organization.

History of Indiana Dunes Tourism

The doors to Indiana Dunes Tourism opened on January 2, 1986, as the Porter County Convention, Recreation & Visitor Commission. John Bowman was hired as the first executive director. The first office/Visitor Center was located in Chesterton on the southeast side of Indian Oak Mall on Indian Boundary Road.

The Indiana Dunes Tourism offices and Visitor Center have been housed in five different locations. The Visitor Center is an important marketing tool because it allows Indiana Dunes Tourism to interact directly with a large number of visitors who have chosen our destination and tell them the story of the Indiana Dunes area.

The organization is funded through the innkeeper’s tax, a fee paid by visitors staying in Porter County accommodations for fewer than 30 days. The original amount collected was three percent of the cost of lodging, but it was increased to five percent with the innkeepers’ support as long as the funding was spent on marketing to increase visitation to Porter County’s hotels, restaurants, and attractions.

Indiana Dunes Tourism’s mission has always been to bring visitors to the Indiana Dunes area and extend their stays through effective marketing. As the tourism industry grew, Indiana Dunes Tourism expanded its marketing efforts by creating a strong destination brand. The organization changed its “doing business as” name to Indiana Dunes Tourism in 2010 to reflect the primary reason visitors come to Porter County, which is to visit the Indiana Dunes. 

Indiana Dunes Tourism has evolved into a visionary organization pro-actively involved in destination development planning. Indiana Dunes Tourism also has a staff of professionals who make the vision a reality. They have been successful, in part, due to the quality and quantity of the partnerships they have formed. 

Form of Ownership

To diversify the local economy from the steel industry, on May 21, 1984, the Porter County Board of Commissioners, Michael Aylesworth, William Carmichael, and Larry Sheets, created the Porter County Convention, Recreation & Visitor Commission (now doing business as Indiana Dunes Tourism) pursuant to I.C. 6-9-19-1 (Indiana Uniform Innkeeper’s Tax Law) and County Commissioner Resolution 84-4. It was amended on November 21, 1994, with Resolution 94-13 and was amended again on January 1, 1998, with Resolution 97-22. In 1985, the Porter County Council adopted the Uniform County Innkeepers Tax as the sole funding mechanism for Indiana Dunes Tourism. This five percent tax is collected with innkeeper support spending on marketing efforts aimed at increasing visitation to Porter County’s hotels, restaurants, attractions, and other tourism businesses.