Grand Lake area set tourism record in 2015

CELINA - 2015 was a record-setting year for area tourism, Greater Grand Lake Region Visitors Center Executive Director Donna Grube said Thursday at the group's annual award luncheon.

"Most of you know what happened in our area in 2009 and 2010 that led to a nearly 25 percent drop in hotel receipts, but we have worked our way back," Grube announced.

Lodging receipts saw a record-breaking year with $5.76 million in room sales, compared with $5.34 million in 2014. Total tourism income hit $54.8 million last year, surpassing the previous record of $51.7 million set in 2008. Increases were seen in gasoline and oil sales, auto repairs, auto sales, restaurants and clubs, entertainment and recreation and general retail purchases.
  The figures show local tourism spending by hotel guests in the last five years contributed more than $239.8 million to the economies of Auglaize and Mercer counties, Grube said. That spending supported 2,740 jobs in the area in 2015. The total spending figure is based on a travel industry formula that factors in spending on gas, oil and automotive supplies and repairs; restaurants and clubs; entertainment and recreation; and general retail sales, according to Grube.

The GGLRVC also honored two local business owners as 2015 award winners during the luncheon at the private Schroyer Truck Museum north of Celina.

The 2015 award winners included a Pakistani immigrant and a family business that began by operating out of a small grocery store in Burkettsville more than four decades ago.

Businessman Muhammad Khokhar received the visitors center's Ambassador Award, while the Stahr Award was presented to Romer's Catering and Entertainment Facilities. The awards are given each year to an individual and a business for their significant contributions to the development of tourism in the Greater Grand Lake Visitor Region.

Khokhar came to the U.S. in the late 1990s from Pakistan to help with a family business. He had become a successful businessman in Sioux City, Iowa, before searching for new business opportunities, which brought him to the area.

He told the story of being asked to consider property in Celina during a stop while driving from the Cleveland area to Indianapolis, Ind. He purchased the Holiday Inn Express in Celina, a business that has gone through two major improvements and is in the midst of a third.

Since that first property purchase, Khokhar also purchased the America's Best Value Inn in St. Marys and Celina and improved those properties. He later purchased and performed a complete turnaround of what is now Quality Inn & Suites in St. Marys. He also is co-owner of St. Marys Pack N Pump, a gas station and convenience store, which has also gone through extensive improvements.

"As for the move to this area is concerned, I think this was the best relocation decision that I could ever have made," Khokhar told the audience.

Romer's Catering and Entertainment Facilities first started its catering service at the family's established Burkettsville grocery store.

The operation continued to grow, and by 1996 the family had opened a banquet hall in St. Henry.

The company expanded into the Galleria in Celina in 2000. A new banquet facility was built on at Westlake Village on the south edge of Celina a few years later. A third banquet and reception facility was added in Greenville in 2005.

In 2008, the company bought The Carousel Dance and Entertainment Hall, south of Celina and renamed the venue Overdrive. In 2009, the business expanded into the hospitality business, purchasing the villas adjacent to the Celina facility.

Grube also discussed the work that went into overhauling the information and reception room at the visitors center and the new logo that was developed and adopted. Officials also distributed the 2016 visitors and restaurant guides.

The center's board approved the purchase of the state report on tourism, which is compiled every two years by several independent research firms. The Center must pay double to receive data for two counties to be able "to have solid numbers on how much visitors do contribute to our area economy." That report should be released in May.

Correction:

Muhammad Khokhar, the Grand Lake Visitors Center Ambassador Award winner, is no longer owner of the America's Best Value Inn in St. Marys. That property is now owned by Waqar Mughal. The error was made in the information provided to The Daily Standard.