Q&A with Matt Eckert on U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board appointment
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Matt Eckert, CEO and president of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, is serving a two-year term on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, or TTAB. The Santa Claus theme park and water park leader was appointed to the role by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in February.
Eckert spoke with Inside INdiana Business about his roles on other tourism and parks boards and how he plans to contribute to TTAB.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me about your role on the Indiana Destination Development Corp. board.
That is a position I was appointed to right after COVID came about, and I was on a committee with several members of the travel and tourism industry within the state of Indiana. That morphed into something a little bit more permanent when the governor created the Indiana Destination Development Corp. and appointed me as well as several others to that board.
Our goal on that agency is to promote the assets we have in Indiana in terms of tourism, not only to get guests to visit but to get guests to stay. We want to make Indiana a place of destination.
What about your role with the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions?
[Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari is] part of IAAPA, and that’s made up of members from a variety of different constituencies, not just amusement parks, but theme parks, water parks, zoos, aquariums, museums, any kind of recreational type of business. [IAAPA] represents the entire global community.
I’ve been on the Government Affairs Committee for a couple of years. I served on several committees. Prior to that, I was on the HR Committee, the Amusement Parks and Attractions Committee, the Drone Task Force Committee. Most recently, I’ve been very active in the Government Relations Committee and just took over as chair.
My role is to look at what kind of proposed bills and laws are being looked at in Washington D.C., work with legislators on those bills and talk through and educate them on our industry and what’s important and what could be detrimental to the operation of everyone within the facility.
What does TTAB do?
[TTAB] looks at different matters that relate to the travel and tourism industry in the United States. Our role is to advise the Secretary on government policies and programs that are affecting U.S. travel and tourism.
We offer counsel on current and emerging issues, and we provide a forum for discussing and proposing solutions to industry-related problems. It’s a congressionally mandated board. There are 32 members, and we represent a variety of companies and organizations from a vast geographic region.
What was the process of your TTAB appointment?
That was an application as the Government Relations Chair for IAAPA. IAAPA encouraged me to apply to be on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. I did not anticipate or expect I would be selected because it’s a prestigious honor. I wanted to represent our industry, but I also went in with the understanding that it might not happen. But lo and behold, it did.
If we look at the members on that board, I’m representing a niche sector of our industry. I’m representing amusement parks. I’m representing smaller, regional parks that don’t always have a louder voice at the table like some of the bigger parks, Disney or Universal. That’s one of the reasons they wanted to hear from me.
The Secretary of Commerce is still getting the ground under his feet with the administration, but once he does, we will start meeting on a quarterly basis. We will have a combination of virtual meetings and meetings in D.C.
What southwest Indiana and Midwest insight and experience do you bring to TTAB?
Especially now with the way the world is operating and the questions and uncertainty about the costs of everything, folks are looking to keep their tourism and travel more local. It’s important we highlight that there are so many things folks can do without traveling a far distance and start looking more to those regional type destinations that are vital in the tourism industry but often don’t get the attention others may. I’m going to be an advocate for them.
What are your thoughts on TTAB’s future in light of the Department of Government Efficiency cuts?
I don’t feel like this board is in danger of any cuts simply because of the cabinet it falls under, the Secretary of Commerce. There are few agencies reporting to him that I feel would be under scrutiny. But I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t predict with certainty what could happen.
If you look at some of the DOGE cuts that are happening, some of them make sense, some of them may be considered a little bit too harsh. But you have to support what’s in place, hope for the best, keep speaking your peace and keep speaking your truth, and hopefully that will carry some weight.
What do you think about reports saying the U.S. may lose $12.5 billion in international travel spending this year?
It’s definitely concerning. I’m the chair of the relations committee for IAAPA, and a couple of members on that committee are from Canada. They’ve made emphatic statements that Canadian tourism is going to be pretty much nonexistent for the United States this year.
From my perspective, that doesn’t affect Holiday World. Our visitation from Canada isn’t large, but I also have several [committee] members that are from New Jersey and New York, and they’re going to see a 30% visitation hit because of these feelings that have grown as a result of the tariff wars. So there is some concern.
I’m hoping within the next month or two or three, we will see some stabilization, and we will start seeing some agreements made between all of the parties involved, and hopefully the impact won’t be great from a business standpoint. [Holiday World] purchased a lot of our goods last year in anticipation that something like this could happen. We haven’t been hit too hard from a cost of goods perspective.
What’s new for Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in 2025?
We purchased Santa’s Cottages, so we have started getting involved in the lodging business. We now own 39 cottages about a mile up the road to integrate with our brand and provide a more holistic experience for our guests who travel and stay overnight. We wanted to make sure that we have an integrated experience for them in the park this year.
We added a new roller coaster last year. Typically, after we have a big marquee attraction, the following year, we do general updates. Replacing chairs, adding shade, adding benches, doing lots of coaster track work. We have three wooden coasters that require a lot of TLC. We did quite a bit of coaster track work this offseason.
Anything else you’d like to add?
We’re praying for the water to start heating up so that people can start enjoying Splashin’ Safari, but we’re open and ready for business, and we’d love to see everyone throughout the state of Indiana come see us.