An old colloquialism says, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater,” but unfortunately that seems to be exactly what occurred when it comes to the Four Flags Area Council on Tourism.

The board of the nonprofit organization voted earlier this fall to dissolve the entity at the end of the year, citing dwindling membership and revenue from area hotels.

These are certainly challenges that needed addressed but it is difficult to dispute the need for an organization dedicated to developing tourism in southwest Michigan.

Although the council didn’t encompass all these areas, there is a definite need in Niles, Buchanan and Dowagiac, areas that somewhat fall through the cracks of other tourism entities.

Participation in this organization was purely voluntary for the hotels but, rather than abandoning the whole concept, we would have liked to have seen a public conversation about the community needs and for the organization to share what steps it took to refocus the efforts.

Did the board evaluate every component of its operations including personnel? Did it review its marketing approach? What efforts were made to grow membership?  Isn’t there a need for a legitimate visitors’ center? Were there more opportunities for partnering with existing organizations?

Only a handful of people know the answers to these since all decisions were made behind closed doors and the board was less than forthcoming when asked some of these questions, leaving some to wonder if this was more about personal agendas or the result of shortsighted vision.

We truly hope that wasn’t the case.

The challenge the region faces now is that it has lost an organization that was designed to address a critical need, one that already had some level of built-in funding — exactly how much remains to be seen because the board chose not to provide that figure and other information to the public when asked by the Daily Star.

This creates a definite void.

Southwest Michigan certainly attracts tourists but Niles and the surrounding communities have to work to differentiate themselves to create destinations that are as attractive as the lakeshore towns.

This may be the end of the era of the Four Flags Area Council on Tourism, but hopefully this will become the start of the conversations needed to lead to greater things to come.

After all, our communities are our babies and we have to give them proper support so they can grow and prosper.

 

Michael Caldwell is the publisher of Leader Publications LLC. He can be reached at (269) 687-7700 or by email at mike.caldwell@leaderpub.com.