Meet Christine Livingston of Indiana Dunes Tourism

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Livingston.

Christine, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Indiana about 30 minutes out of Chicago. Lake Michigan and Indiana Dunes were my playground, and my children’s playground and for that matter the playground of my parents. So many hundreds of hours we all spent at the beach and throughout the Indiana Dunes hiking, waterskiing, kayaking, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, bicycling…or just relaxing and reconnecting with each other and with ourselves. I have a deep connection to this place.

When the opportunity presented itself to work for Indiana Dunes Tourism pitching the dunes and surrounding areas, I thought – perfect! A chance for me to photograph, write about and share with others this spot that is so near to my heart. It’s been 8 years and I am now the assistant director.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Working for tourism has been great experience. As with anything there have been challenges. Funding, politics, the usual stuff. But we have great leadership, a wonderful board of directors and so many amazing partners. And at the end of the day, I get to help many people enjoy time away from their busy lives to connect with a place that restores and refreshes. It is rewarding.

Indiana Dunes Tourism – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Something that sets Indiana Dunes Tourism apart is that we are not a pay-to-play organization. Many tourism organizations are member-based. This means that members must pay to belong and receive benefits. That structure limits who tourism organizations can promote to only paying members-similar to a chamber of commerce. We are not set up this way. We are funded through a tax, so can equally represent all attractions, accommodations, dining establishments and other businesses and communities throughout our area. We are everyone’s cheerleader!

We get to help small businesses by way of developing marketing for them that they could otherwise not afford. An example is our partnership with Midwest Living Magazine to showcase local dining. We partnered with Midwest Living to shop, interview, photograph, video and develop a campaign for our best restaurants all at no charge to them-the Indiana Dunes Culinary Tour www.indianadunes.com/culinary.

Small business owners are VERY busy and stretched too thin sometimes to concern themselves with marketing. It can be a fatal mistake. That is where we come in and can really add value. We photograph and have developed hundreds of videos for our communities and businesses and use them to get the word out about all the Indiana Dunes region has to offer www.youtube.com/user/IndianaDunesCountry.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
In addition to my role as assistant director, I handle our marketing, web development and photography. When I first hired in, I was tasked with developing an Indiana Dunes adventure guide and web pages. We had done our research. An extensive destination audit conducted by outside experts suggested that we were underselling the plethora of natural assets throughout our region. There was an outdoor adventures market just waiting to be reached. I dug in and worked with our partners and community leaders to identify the best that the Indiana Dunes region has to offer. It took time because we wanted to get it right. We had fun! I got to know many community leaders and partners and work with them to promote and enhance their properties and businesses. Today after years of refining, Indiana Dunes Outdoor Adventures is one of our most successful campaigns. The Indiana Dunes are worth a trip. But many people don’t realize other opportunities for outdoor adventure that are here as well. I grew up having every possible kind of fun in the Indiana Dunes and surrounding communities. So I was well positioned to create a campaign about the lesser known, tucked away places that are here to discover. Our outdoor adventure web pages and guides are extremely popular.

www.indianadunes.com/beaches-and-beyond
www.indianadunes.com/destination-guides/electronic-guides

Having spent my lifetime enjoying and developing a deep appreciation for the Indiana Dunes and Lake Michigan, it is rewarding to be able to share it with others today through Indiana Dunes Tourism. And it is working! Now we are challenged with outfitting visitors who come and don’t have their own adventure equipment. This is a testimonial that we have the product and the interest. Demand is a good problem to have and in my opinion a great business opportunity!

Contact Info:

• Website: IndianaDunes.com
• Phone: 219-926-2255
• Email: info@indianadunes

Councilmember Mike Jessen with Indiana Dunes board members, Scott Tuft, Jesse Harper and Cathy Brown

The Indiana Dunes Tourism team – staff and volunteers 
Indiana Dunes Board meeting with president, Mitch Peters and executive director, Lorelei Weimer

Christine shooting for the Indiana Dunes Culinary Tour with video crew, Thad Donavan and Trent Albert
Christine with board member, Richard Riley and executive director, Lorelei Weimer

Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.