Assembly Committee Holds Tourism Information Hearing

On Feb. 7, the Assembly Committee on Tourism held an informational hearing on the Department of Tourism. The Department Secretary Stephanie Klett, joined by Deputy Secretary Sarah Klavas and Marketing Director Shane Brossard, presented to the committee the latest Travel Wisconsin commercials and the Department’s 2017 annual report.

The Wisconsin Department of Tourism is tasked with marketing the state as a tourist destination. According to Klett, the tourism industry earns an estimated $6 for every $1 spent in the Department’s marketing budget, which was $15.5 million this year. The 2017 annual report detailed how the Department spent ad dollars during each season and how they earned $143 million in free media throughout the year.

The Department highlighted several advertising campaigns from 2017. Last year’s summer commercials focused on a real family whose tradition is to travel to a Wisconsin lake every summer. The Department also began promoting the newly designated Frank Lloyd Wright Trail and held its first Facebook live event at Summerfest. Autumn campaigns focused on Wisconsin’s fall colors and included a wall-to-wall display in Chicago’s Union Station.

The Department also told committee members about their successes distributing grants to regional tourism organizations, totaling $1.4 million in grants with an estimated $70 million return on investment in Wisconsin communities.