Short-Term Rentals in Switzerland County, Indiana: Vevay's Tourism Economy

A tourism identity that predates the casino by two centuries

Vevay, the Switzerland County seat, was settled in 1802 by Swiss immigrant vintners who planted what's said to be the first commercial winery in the United States -- a heritage the town has leaned into rather than let fade. Today that history supports a real, currently operating cluster of wineries: Lanthier Winery and Thomas Family Winery, both about 17 miles from town, and The Ridge Winery, whose riverfront tasting room looks directly out over Ohio River barge traffic. Layered on top of the wine history is the Ohio River Scenic Byway, Indiana's first federally designated National Scenic Byway, which routes visitors along the river through Vevay on their way past caving, canoeing, and zip-lining attractions in the surrounding hill country.

That combination earned Vevay a genuinely current, dated distinction: USA Today named it the 2026 Best Small Town in the Midwest, the second time in four years the town has won that specific title. Recognition like that isn't a permanent guarantee of demand, but it is a real, independently verifiable signal that the town's tourism draw has held up over multiple years rather than being a one-time write-up.

Belterra Casino Resort adds a second, larger visitor draw nearby

Belterra Casino Resort & Spa, a roughly 250-acre casino, hotel, and golf-resort property near Florence -- correctly located in Switzerland County, not neighboring Ohio County -- is a much larger, higher-traffic visitor draw than the winery scene on its own, and it's been operating continuously since 2000. A buyer thinking about short-term-rental demand in the southern part of the county, closer to Florence, should weigh Belterra's overnight-guest and day-trip traffic as a separate driver from Vevay's own wine-and-scenic-byway tourism further up the river, since the two draw somewhat different visitors on different schedules.

What the current lodging and rental market looks like

The county's overnight-lodging options already span a real range: Swiss Haven RV Resort sits directly on the Ohio River in Vevay for RV and camping guests, and a genuine, currently advertised market of vacation-rental homes -- listed on platforms like Vrbo -- offers river views and proximity to the wineries for travelers who want a house rather than a hotel room or campsite. That's the practical opportunity for a land buyer: a riverfront or near-river parcel in or near Vevay carries a real, demonstrated short-term-rental market that a comparable inland parcel elsewhere in the county's more agricultural interior doesn't have.

What this research pass could not confirm is whether Switzerland County or the Town of Vevay has adopted its own specific short-term-rental ordinance, permit process, or local innkeeper's/occupancy-tax registration requirement -- Indiana does not set a single statewide short-term-rental licensing regime, and regulation where it exists is set city-by-city or county-by-county rather than through one uniform state rule. Before buying with a short-term-rental use in mind, confirm directly with the Switzerland County Building Inspector, Planning and Zoning office and, if the parcel sits inside Vevay's town limits, with the town itself, whether any permit, inspection, or tax-registration step applies -- and don't assume the absence of a widely publicized ordinance means there's no requirement at all.