Growing the tourism industry in Hamilton County has always been more than a job for Fishers resident Brenda Myers. It’s been a passion.
When she took the helm as CEO of Carmel-based Hamilton County Tourism 19 years ago, the county and its attractions were on the cusp of rapid growth. Her dedication to in-depth research and data analysis multiplied the tourism industry to receive more than 5 million annual visitors.
“Our community is truly a unique blend of five communities, each with different personalities, attractions, amenities, experiences, vibrant downtowns and outdoor recreational opportunities. That diversity makes it unique,” said Myers, who plans to retire within the next several weeks. “It’s just hard to even explain how fun it is to have the privilege of supporting and promoting this community. We’re so fortunate that we have this critical mass of leadership and amenities and ability to problem solve.”
Before joining HCT, Myers, 64, worked for Tour Indiana, the Indiana Division of Tourism, Conner Prairie and the Indiana Historical Society. She said she applied her experience in the tourism industry to move beyond simply counting “heads in beds” as the main tourism metric during her time at HCT.
As a Fishers resident, Myers also had a vested interest in managing tourism to keep Hamilton County an exceptional place to live.
“I wasn’t looking for a job and was very happy at the Indiana Historical Society, but I think it was the openness of the (HTC) board to rethink destination development that really made it attractive to come and take this position,” Myers said.
HCT was looking beyond marketing to become more of a catalyst for change within the community and a partner to local tourism drivers, according to Myers.
While working at Conner Prairie from 1984 to 1997, Myers served on the formation team to adopt the tax that would fund Hamilton County Tourism, Inc. and had also served on the HCT board.
“I want to applaud (former State) Sen. Luke Kenley because he was one of the many masterminds of the lodging tax, which is why a county can – without legislation – adopt a 5 percent lodging tax. And I want to applaud the hotels, because they allow themselves to be taxed,” Myers said.
Myers calls it “give-back tourism” because the funds generated from the tax benefit the entire community and provide more reasons for people to visit and need hotel accommodation.
“I think it’s sort of like a rising tide lifts all boats. If we can support all these other things in the community, then ultimately you will end up selling more hotel rooms. And that’s exactly what’s happened,” Myers said.
When she started as HCT’s CEO, the county had 1,800 hotel rooms. Now, it has 5,000. The HCT budget has grown from less than $1 million to $10 million annually. Her staff has grown from five to 19.
“With so much of consumer travel planning and booking occurring online, Brenda saw the value of collecting market data to better inform decision making,” said Karen Radcliff, HCT vice president and chief strategy officer. “She grew HCT’s business intelligence program in support of making Hamilton County a better place to live and visit.”
Myers credits Radcliffe with initiating a movement toward what HCT could provide to the community. Radcliffe was instrumental in attracting youth sports events to the county at a time when golf was the main tourism driver.
The entire HCT team worked to find new tourism opportunities for the county.
“Brenda was an early adopter of tourism product development,” Radcliff said. “This led to supporting brick-and-mortar projects across the county. Two legacy projects she leaves are Nickel Plate Arts, now Noblesville Creates, and Nickel Plate Express. Both attractions are highly regarded for the work they do and the visitors they attract.”
Sarah Buckner, HCT assistant director of community engagement, has worked closely with Myers since becoming her executive assistant in 2016.
“Brenda has such a clear vision,” she said. “Not only is she smart with this great vision, but she also has an idea on how to execute anything that she comes up with. And she also surrounds herself with really smart people. So, she makes sure that things get done.”
Myers said she is optimistic about the future of tourism as a whole and of the organization’s contribution.
“We built a deep bench here, I’m very proud of that – that we have an extraordinary team that really is forward thinking,” she said.
Myers said Grand Park has been a “monumental lesson on visitor flow and visitor activity” and she has been thrilled to see the food and arts scene grow “exponentially” over the last decade.
“The Center for the Performing Arts is so accessible, and the Christkindlmarkt, that thing is magic. It does drive so much tourism, but most importantly, it creates a great place to live,” Myers said.
She is also proud of the White River Vision Plan and the work to help raise awareness of the river as an asset to the communities it runs through.
“When I interviewed to be CEO, I said if we could do things differently this would be a really fun place to work,” Myers said. “And they stuck by their word and let us do things differently. And I think it’s really worked. A lot of organizations and a lot of communities don’t have that kind of support.”
Looking to the future
The search committee for Hamilton County Tourism is working with a search firm to secure applicants and will be vetting candidates throughout the summer, according to Norman Burns, president and CEO of Conner Prairie, chairman of the HCT Board and head of the search committee for the new HCT President/CEO. He said the committee plans to have a new leader appointed in August with a start date of Sept. 1.
Following her late July or early August retirement, Myers will serve on the board of the Carmel Christkindlmarkt, perform in the Westfield ukulele circle, volunteer at Nickel Plate Express, garden and enjoy time with her husband, Jim Lindgren, and their two grown daughters.
“My husband has Parkinson’s, which is why I’m retiring now. I probably would have waited a few more years but we decided to travel while we can,” Myers said. “So that’s been our goal.”
