The crack of a baseball bat makes cash registers ring in Crown Point and surrounding communities as amateur and youth sports bring an influx of people to the area.
Speros Batistatos, president and CEO of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the tourism bureau is "thrilled" by the Game Day USA tournament in Crown Point this weekend and the economic impact it will have.
"When you look at the difference in performance last year to this year, we are really pleased," Batistatos said. In 2016, Game Day USA brought 62 local and Midwestern teams to Crown Point. That number almost doubled in 2017 with 118 teams participating.
"Last year it was primarily local," Batistatos said. There were 62 rooms booked in area hotels in 2016 related to the Game Day USA tournament, he said. This year, 440 rooms have been booked. "That," the tourism chief said, "is a lot."
Batistatos said sports tourism like the Game Day USA tournament and the National Softball Association Class A World Series in Crown Point later this month are becoming an economic driver for the local tourism industry, especially in the wake of the decimation of the small to mid-level size convention and meeting business Lake County lost with the demolition of the Radisson Hotel in Merrillville.
Crown Point Mayor David Uran agreed the tournaments that flock to the city because of the Sportsplex facility including the Legacy Fields are an economic boon to many of the city's businesses as people spend money at local restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores.
Along with the Legacy Fields at the Sportsplex the city has invested in improving all of the youth ball fields in the city that all will be filled with players during the weekend's tournament. That investment into the infrastructure supporting sports tourism has seen the tournaments that come to the city grow and bring more visitors.
"This is the thing we envisioned happening in Crown Point," Uran said.
Batistatos said that growth brings in people from other areas to spend money in the region that they earned someplace else. Batistatos said growing popularity speaks to two very strong indicators that will shape the future of Lake County tourism: sports tourism and the notion of family.
"Family fun and sports go hand in hand and it is something we can deliver on," Batistatos said.
He pointed to Whiting Mayor Joe Stathura and his city's efforts to create the Mascot Hall of Fame and the opening of the new Whoa Zone floating water park at Whihala Beach on Lake Michigan.
"There were 15,000 people at the lakefront park Monday. That's just one example," Batistatos said. Crown Point's investment in public art to bring people to the city is another example
"These are areas our cities and towns can see real growth with real visitor spending," Batistatos said.
The region has become a destination for reasonably priced family fun with opportunities continuing to grow. He cited the Deep River Aerial Adventure Park as another new popular family activity.
"There is so much growth in this area. We are coming into our own as a destination in these couple market segments," Batistatos said.
The increase in family-friendly tourism instead of convention and meeting business will cause a shift in the economic impact outside visitors have on the area. Fast food and casual restaurants will see a benefit from the addition of more families visiting while destinations popular with business travelers with expense accounts, while higher-end and more pricey restaurants may take a hit, he said.
"Right now, it's feast for those guys at fast food and casual restaurants and some degree of famine for the more expensive type stuff," he said.