Visit South Haven has given a yearly update to the South Haven City Council, outlining all the things the organization does to attract visitors to the area and grow its economy.
Speaking this week, Visit South Haven Director Jennifer Sistrunk said big news from 2025 was the organization’s rebranding as it changed its name from the previous South Haven/Van Buren County Convention and Visitors Bureau. She said in an average year, South Haven attracts about 1.7 million visitors and seven million total visits.
“And we’ve seen that flatline, we are seeing the unique visitors decline,” Sistrunk said. “One of our theories as to why that’s happening is we found is that people are coming to South Haven, they’re visiting, they’re falling in love, and they’re moving here. They’re living here.”
Sistrunk said Visit South Haven wants to get a better handle on those numbers, using AI technology to identify visitors based on phone data.
“We know a lot of things, and I would be here for days if I was telling you all the demographics, but I will tell you that we are working on a visitation snapshot that will be released into the public hopefully early next year or sometime in the spring.”
Sistrunk said in the past year, Visit South Haven has replaced the billboard at Exit 18 on I-196 to attract beachgoers, purchased two beach wheelchairs that have been used by 103, people, given out $15,000 in accessibility grants, and maintained funding for the city’s holiday lights.
Sistrunk noted the organization receives no tax dollars for its activities, instead receiving funding from a 5% assessment on overnight stays in South Haven.
