Key takeaways, sights from VISIT Milwaukee’s annual meeting

VISIT Milwaukee hosted its annual assembly Wednesday, bringing a whole lot of native enterprise execs and group leaders to the Marcus Performing Arts Heart in downtown Milwaukee to have a good time the continued post-COVD restoration of tourism and journey within the area.

Final 12 months, tourism within the better Milwaukee space – Wisconsin’s largest tourism market – generated an financial affect of $5.2 billion, which was down 11.9% from record-breaking 2019. In Milwaukee County, tourism financial affect totaled $3.3 billion, down 15.4% from 2019 however up 19.5% over 2020. That’s in keeping with statewide information launched earlier this month by the Wisconsin Division of Tourism.

Throughout its annual assembly, VISIT Milwaukee highlighted the foremost drivers of final 12 months’s tourism exercise within the area – together with the return of reside festivals and high-profile sporting occasions such because the Ryder Cup, held at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan County, and the Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA championship run – and introduced some new initiatives geared toward drawing extra guests and publicity to Milwaukee in 2022 and past. Listed here are some key takeaways:

Milwaukee is getting its personal TV present 

This fall, VISIT is launching a TV present known as “Good Issues Brewing” with a yet-to-be-named nationwide TV community, native associates throughout the Midwest, native stations in addition to YouTube and social media. The present, which goals to “give viewers a neighborhood’s model of Milwaukee” is being produced in partnership with Milwaukee-based Plum Media and David Caruso, proprietor of Dynamic Occasions.

Caruso will seem in every episode, conducting “experiential” interviews at native points of interest, eating places, bars and accommodations with Milwaukee’s “most attention-grabbing individuals.” The primary episode is slated to debut later this 12 months.

“In creating this present, we search to succeed in new audiences to extend curiosity in and consciousness of Milwaukee and the area and drive visitation,” mentioned Josh Albrecht, vice chairman of promoting and communications at VISIT Milwaukee.

Journey media places highlight on Milwaukee 

Final October, Milwaukee hosted the Society of American Journey Writers annual conference, which introduced greater than 200 journalists to Milwaukee, who visited greater than 100 companies and points of interest throughout the realm. For the reason that conference, the group has generated practically 70 tales (and counting) about Milwaukee for nationwide publications like USA Immediately, The Washington Put up, U.S. Information & World Report, Journey + Leisure, Farm Journal and Conferences Immediately. 

VISIT mentioned the town will host one other group of 32 journey media influencers, who will produce quite a lot of Milwaukee-focused content material for nationwide audiences of their very own. Of the 32 people, greater than half determine as individuals of shade, LGBTQ+ or disabled.

Talking to the gang on Wednesday, VISIT’s communications director Claire Koenig mentioned she’s typically requested how the group boils down messaging about the complete Milwaukee group into succinct, digestible content material.

“I all the time reply with this: Each story instructed about Milwaukee has one thing to do with our incredible high quality of life, the progressive individuals who reside right here or our wealthy cultural variety, and it doesn’t matter what we’re pitching and the way had been doing it, we’re telling each story with unapologetic delight,” mentioned Koenig.

Measuring Milwaukee as a vacation spot 

Milwaukee is one among 300 cites worldwide that’s working with Locations Worldwide to evaluate the town as a journey vacation spot. VISIT is first surveying key stakeholders throughout the area who’re impacted by leisure or enterprise journey. The outcomes of the survey, to be made public in September, will function report card for the well being and benchmarking of Milwaukee as a vacation spot. VISIT is asking companies and media to take the survey right here, from now till Aug. 15.

A second citizen survey will ballot residents on their ideas on Milwaukee’s strengths and tips on how to market them.