Local attractions, bed and breakfasts see increased holiday traffic in South Bend
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Bolstered by economic activity from the University of Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff game against Indiana University last month, local attractions, as well as bed and breakfasts in South Bend saw a significant surge in visitors, resulting in higher occupancy rates and increased revenue for the hospitality and tourism sectors, in a month that usually sees little to no activity.
Boasting more than 130 animal species from across the world, the Potawatomi Zoo’s $8 million investment in The Lodge Café proved to be a step in the right direction this winter season. With attendance at almost 360,000 for the year, the zoo had one of its best years yet.
“We’ve never had an indoor space with a fireplace, so you can come in and get warm. A lot of times people wait to come when it gets a little bit warmer, but the lodge just gives you a place to be able to come and get out of the cold,” Potawatomi Zoo Executive Director Josh Sisk said. “ So you’re not just walking around the Zoo for 45 minutes to see the lights, you’re actually extending your evening.”
Sisk explains the impact The Lodge Café had on attracting folks to the Potawatomi Zoo’s Gift of Light Christmas display.
For the holidays, the zoo puts on its annual Gift of Lights Christmas display, providing locals and visitors with one more winter-time activity. Now in its sixth year, Gift of Lights continues to grow.
“The larger the zoo gets, the more visitation we get, and the more money that can be invested into making it bigger and better,” Sisk said. “I think about Lincoln Park. They have over a million visitors a year to their light festival, that would be my hope for Potawatomi.”
The zoo partners with Winterland for its light displays and also has a profit-sharing program with the company based on admissions revenue. Annual attendance usually ranges between 25,000 to 30,000. Altogether, it takes about four weeks to set up the entire display.
“Our Gift of Lights Festival got off to a little bit of a rough start. The first weekend was crazy cold. We were way down compared to our opening weekend of past years,” Sisk said. “As the weekends went on, we geared up, and we pretty much hit right on target as we did last year.”
Adding that the holiday season usually meant an uptick in membership gifts, Sisk said that the zoo’s retail and holiday packages did “really good numbers” in 2024. Since going private in 2015, more than $25 million has been invested to upgrade and expand the zoo’s offerings. Over the past couple of years, lions, giraffes, and even Andean bears have been added.
For the 2025 winter, the zoo has introduced “Winter Days” on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to give families a break from being cooped up at home all weekend long.
“It just didn’t make sense to be open in the winter before, but with all these upgrades, now you can go into a heated barn and feed giraffes. You can see the lions inside, even on the coldest days,” Sisk said. “So with what you get for your ticket price now in the winter time, it’s just completely changed our operations.”
Sisk recalled feeling like the city died in the winter after he moved from New York in 2018, and added that he has noticed an upward trend in wintertime activities since then.
“In the last few years with the new restaurants, Howard Park and ice skating, it definitely seems like people are starting to embrace winter more around here,” Sisk said. “So it’s the perfect time to open the zoo.”
Folks at the Studebaker National Museum recounted a similar experience this holiday season, even seeing a 10% uptick in attendance over 2023. While the Studebaker doesn’t do any holiday decorations, it put on several special exhibitions for the holiday season through Jan. 30.
“We have one celebrating the Marquis de Lafayette. It’s the 200th anniversary of his farewell tour, and we actually have one of the carriages that he used during that tour here in the museum,” Studebaker National Museum Executive Director Patrick Slebonick said. “We also had a little celebration of the South Bend Toy Co. Who doesn’t love a little toy exhibition over the holiday season?”
Drawing automobile enthusiasts from across the country and the world, Slebonick said museum attendance in the summer is largely skewed towards out-of-town visitors, while locals make up the major part of holiday numbers.
“The holidays are a great time to get out with your family. There’s a lot of time where people get cabin fever, and we’re a great indoor warm opportunity to come out,” Slebonick said. “During the holidays, we have a lot of local people here to enjoy the attraction.”
The museum also provides an event rental service during the holiday season. Slebonick said all available dates for 2024 sold out. Studebaker visitors also had the opportunity to experience the Christmas at Copshaholm exhibit at the History Museum.
Annually, with kids out of school and folks travelling, Slebonick said summer is the museum’s busiest season, with the period between Thanksgiving and the end of December coming in as second busiest.
“That’s a combination of things. We have a museum store which actually ships orders around the world, so a lot of people buy their Studebaker themed gifts. We have everything from T-shirts and mugs to puzzles and coffee,” Slebonick said. “Then with our visitation, over the course of the year, it is meaningful. It is the second biggest bump that we have every year.”
Slebonick added that the curatorial team’s continued focus on identifying and executing interesting activations to entertain returning visitors and attract new audiences was key to the organization’s holiday success.
Housed in a historic Queen Anne style home, Innisfree Bed & Breakfast, usually has a quiet winter season following the end of the college football season. But with the College Football Playoff crowd, the B&B saw increased foot traffic in December.
“That was a big boost for the entire Michiana economy. That was good for us,” co-owner Stephanie Mirza said. “I really feel like it was just luck that this year was a more active winter season.”
While the inn also hosted a couple of holiday family reunions, and had some long-term guests during the holiday season, the rest of the winter season looks pretty slow, Mirza noted.
Transplants from California, Mirza and her husband took over the inn from its previous owners in 2016. Offering complimentary breakfast, Mirza said her favourite thing to make is a gluten-free crustless quiche stuffed with bell peppers or spinach. Guests are also treated to a spicy garlic Indian-Pakistan twist to breakfast potatoes.
With help from an intern, Mirza has been working with The History Museum in South Bend to unearth the inn’s history. Originally located downtown near the Tribune building, Mirza said the building was moved to its present location in 1987.
“It’s just so interesting that a house can have so much of a story,” she noted. “As much as a person, almost.”
With the brutal winters the region experiences, Mirza thinks finding a way to engage with the local community may yield better results than waiting for out-of-town visitors in the winter months.
“Bring the people who are in South Bend who are getting cabin fever to just get out, even if it’s across town, and try something new,” Mirza said. “That break from routine is really good for people, and a lot of people just don’t realize what’s in their neighborhood or what’s in their town.”