“The Grand Haven Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is a 501(c)(6). We work to educate and inform visitors about why they should choose the Grand Haven Area as their next vacation destination, and we also do some work in terms of helping small business meetings, organizational conventions and family reunions who want more information about hosting their event in this area. The staff at the Visitor Center provides travelers with an opportunity to gather additional information about area businesses, attractions, and things to see and do. We answer questions and point people in the right direction.  In many cases we serve as their first impression- a friendly, welcoming face that can inform them about their options while traveling to or through our community.

Even though much of our work is focused on travel and tourism, we give a lot back to the community and help residents too. In fact, we welcome both residents and visitors into our Visitors Center. Residents want to be good ambassadors of their community. And sometimes they want to rediscover the area and be tourists in their own backyard. Residents and visitors alike get to enjoy a variety of area activities, attractions, and businesses, but those businesses, particularly in the downtown areas, might not be able to survive on citizen revenue alone. The tourism economy plays a significant role in assuring that those businesses can afford to stay open year around. The Visitors Bureau plays a role in driving and maintaining the area’s tourism economy.

Grand Haven, in my mind, is a quintessential all-American beach town. We’re surrounded by fresh water and a bounty of natural resources. Plus, we have an amazing amount of public access to those resources through our park lands and trail systems. There are some unique assets to this community that other beach towns don’t have. For example, we have twin red lighthouses, we are home to one of the world’s largest musical fountains of its kind, and we are the first city in the United States to be designated a Coast Guard City and we are the only city to be federally designed by sitting President Bill Clinton in 1998. Next year, Grand Haven will celebrate its 100-year connection to the Coast Guard.”