Friday, April 7

That's the deadline for the next round of "Life's So Good" mini-grant applications.

If you've been thinking of a little public relations project to raise the visibility of your tourism organization locally…and to promote the state's "Life's So Good" slogan at the same time…now's your chance!

Grants of up to $1,000 will be awarded to communities or tourism organizations which develop modest but memorable and effective marketing campaigns for implementation during See America Week (May 13-21) although they can be run after that time if need be.

Download the short little application form from agency.travelwisconsin.com. Fill out the ap and get it back to us by Friday. Cool.

back to top

Wednesday, April 19

That's the deadline for re-bidding of the In-State Lodging contract for 2006 and beyond.

As most of you know, the state requires lodging properties to sign a contract if they wish to provide lodging for state and university employees. The contract essentially obligates lodging properties to offer the state rate ($62) for overnight stays, along with a few other provisions.

The current contract expires on June 30 and there had been complaints that the contract application was too lengthy and complex. Some properties also contended they'd missed notices of the last contract deadline and could not apply.

So, the state Department of Administration agreed to a "do-over". Most lodging properties know about the process, the bid deadline and modifications to the application, but for chamber and CVB staff…if you think some lodging properties in your area might have missed all of this…you may want to contact them soon with a reminder. Especially if you know that state and university employees constitute a significant market for lodging properties in your area.

Everything applicants need to know is available online on the State's VendorNet.

back to top

Keeping Up With The Jones'

The Travel Industry Association's annual survey of state tourism office budgets was released recently, and revealed that investments in tourism promotion in 2005 – 2006 ranged from $1.7 million (Rhode Island) to $69 million (Hawaii) with 49 states reporting (no data from New York).

All state tourism spending combined will total $667 million in the 2005 – 2006 fiscal year, which is about 10% more than the $608 million invested last year. The average state tourism office budget is $13.6 million.

As in previous years, the top ten spending states make up almost half of that $667 so they skew the numbers significantly.

Despite a healthy and generous 21% increase provided by Governor Doyle to Wisconsin's marketing budget, the state lost one place from 15th to 16th among the states. This was due to five states getting significant boosts to their tourism budgets this year: Utah $4 million to $16 million. Kentucky $7 million to $16 million. California $8 million to $16 million. Tennessee $12 million to $17 million.

And one very close to home…Michigan nearly doubled their investment in tourism promotion from $8 million to nearly $16 million in 2005 - 2006, catapulting ahead of Wisconsin for the first time in memory.

Here's a listing of the top 10 tourism promotion budgets, along with a couple of others from the Midwest:

back to top

From The Other End Of State Street

We took a very cordial and productive meeting the other day with several faculty from the UW – Extension's Center for Community and Economic Development. The Center has been spending a lot of time and energy lately developing resources for the tourism industry.

We were very encouraged to learn of the information which Extension is now able to provide to tourism businesses and to communities which are working on tourism development. Their resources are entirely complementary to the stuff we have available here at the Department, with very little duplication, so take a peek at a couple of the links listed below to see what the UW – Extension has been up to lately:

Tourism Business Development Toolbox

Tourism & Retail Development Guidebook and Workshops

Tourist Profiling and Prospecting Research

back to top

Serving The Handicapped

We recently modified the design of our Extranet to provide space for businesses, attractions, facilities, etc. to offer more specific information regarding handicapped accessibility.

Please consider updating your property's listing. We want to offer the most complete information possible to travelers and, at the same time, minimize traveler aggrevation at having to call or e-mail each property to get the facts.

back to top

Keven Cole is the new Director of Marketing for the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan.

John Kollross is the new Director of the Wisconsin Welcome Center at Prairie du Chien. He succeeds Kim Titley who retired to start her own craft, card and photography business.

Candice Krall is the new Director of the Wisconsin Welcome Center at Hurley. She succeeds Barb Campbell who retired.

Christopher Hanson is the new Executive Director of the Tomah Convention and Visitors Bureau, succeeding Eric Price. Chris moved from the Madison area where he worked in sales for Wisconsin Trails and Trails media.

Department of Tourism Outreach Coordinator Will Christianson is taking on new duties as a Tourism Development Specialist serving the Southcentral and Southwestern part of the state.

Department of Tourism Customer and Technology Services Director John (and Lora) Kuehl are the proud parents of Finley delivered on March 7.

The CastleRock Petenwell Lakes Association has opened their first permanent welcome center just off the I-94 Mauston exit and next to McDonalds. The center will service Adams and Juneau Counties and the surrounding region.

back to top

back to top