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What Tourism Means to Kenosha County
We know that we don't have to tell you that tourism exists here! But what does it mean to the economy in Kenosha County? The 2016 economic impact numbers have been announced as part of National Travel & Tourism Week. Visitor spending continued to surge in 2016, increasing 6.3% to reach $209 million. This marks the third straight year that Kenosha County's spending growth is in the top 10 of all counties in Wisconsin. Visitor spending has grown an average of 5.3% annually since 2012. Ranked by visitor spending, Kenosha County was the 18th largest county (out of 72 counties) in Wisconsin in 2016, up from 19th in 2015. Tourism in Kenosha County generated $23.2 million in state and local taxes and $15.3 million in federal taxes last year. In the absence of the state and local taxes generated by tourism, each Kenosha County household would need to pay an additional $370 to maintain the current level of government services. The tourism industry in Kenosha County supported a total of 3,249 jobs, with personal income of $83.6 million. View the full economic impact release here. Also, a page on our website devoted to tourism week can be viewed here. And we wouldn't have a tourism product to promote without YOU - our tourism partners! Thank you for all you do to provide visitors and residents with a great experience! See some of our partners in this Faces of Tourism video.
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Tourism Week Dinner
The power of tourism in Kenosha County was celebrated at the Kenosha Area CVB's Tourism Week Celebration Dinner on May 8 at the Wyndham Garden Kenosha Harborside. Dennis DuChene, KACVB President, presented the economic impact of tourism in Kenosha County in 2016 (view slideshow here). Mayor John Antaramian, City of Kenosha, and Craig Anderson, Director of Recreation at the RecPlex for the Village of Pleasant Prairie, spoke about the importance of tourism. Mayor Antaramian announced that discussions are underway to bring back the tall ship festival in the future. The featured keynote speaker was Stephanie Klett, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. Sec. Klett announced in a May 5 industry email, "Last year was another great year for our industry as Wisconsin's tourism economy reached $20 billion, up $700 million from 2015! The total six-year growth of tourism is up more than $5.2 billion, a 35% increase. This incredible growth is a credit to everyone in our tourism industry." At our dinner, she spoke of tourism in Wisconsin and how "extraordinary" the Kenosha Area is - that each time she comes back there is something new going on. She spoke of how travelers want an experience, and that customer service is such a huge differentiator. She spoke highly of the customer service provided by our team at the I-94 Visitor Information Center, led by Eva Hoey, Visitor Information Center Director. Sec. Klett also spoke of the importance of taking your vacation days; that too many go unused in the United States. Vacations allow you to reconnect with family and friends, to make memories, to let your creativity soar, and to give your body, mind, and spirit a break. Sec. Klett also honored several Kenosha Area businesses and organizations with Department of Tourism grant awards - keep reading for photos and more information.
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Food Folks & Spokes Grant
The Kenosha YMCA is pedaling into a new era of its Food, Folks and Spokes event with help from a $10,000 Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. Food, Folks and Spokes is the kickoff event for the bicycle race series Tour of America's Dairyland, hosted by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The event will be held in and around Library Park on June 15 and features international cycling classic pro-am bicycle races in addition to local food vendors, games, health screenings and live music. Food, Folks and Spokes has a 23-year history in the Kenosha area. After a four-year hiatus, the event returns and is expected to generate an estimated $380,000 in visitor spending in the area. Two representatives from the Kenosha YMCA accepted the "check" on May 8: Cindy Altergott and Chris Finkel.
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Tribute Island Music Festival Grant
On July 22-23, Simmons Island will be transformed into Tribute Island, a music and food festival. The first-ever event will feature 25 of the best tribute acts in the country performing the classic sounds of Journey, Led Zeppelin, Chicago, Pink Floyd, Kiss and more. The event is expected to attract 19,000 attendees, generating an estimated $963,760 in visitor spending in the area. The music event, organized by Carmichael Communications, was awarded a $39,500 JEM grant. Shown here is Frank Carmichael.
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Border War Beer Fest Grant
Back for another round, Border War Beer Fest will take place on Aug 5. The second year event, featuring 30 Wisconsin and Illinois breweries, aims to attract craft beer enthusiasts from both states with games, food, music and fan-favorite voting for a traveling trophy awarded to the top participating brewery. Border War Beer Fest is estimated to attract 1,250 attendees, generating $76,600 in visitor spending to the area. The event received a $13,000 JEM grant. Curt Foreman, of Brewfest Partners who produces the event, and Kate Kleiva, representing community partner Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha, accepted the "check".
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2017 USA Paratriathlon National Championships Grant
The 2017 USA Paratriathlon National Championships will take place in Pleasant Prairie on June 25 in conjunction with the Pleasant Prairie Triathlon. Held in Wisconsin for the first time, the event is expected to draw athletes and visitors from the across the U.S., generating an estimated $52,000 in visitor spending in the Kenosha Area. It has received a Department of Tourism Ready, Set, Go! grant in the amount of $2,500. Accepting it were two representatives from RecPlex: Craig Anderson and Sandy Wiedmeyer.
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As part of tourism week, the KACVB has partnered with local attractions for Kenosha Area Free Days. Each day between May 7 and 13, a different favorite local attraction is offering free admission or other freebies! It's our way of encouraging local residents to Be a Tourist in Your Own Town - this week and all year long! Thank you to these partners for working with us on this: Kenosha Electric Streetcar, Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets, Civil War Museum, Kenosha County Dog Parks, Southport Lighthouse, Pringle Nature Center, and RecPlex Ice Arena. View details of the offers here.
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New Blog Team
The KACVB has announced the new members of our Community Blog Team. These individuals will be writing for the Visit Kenosha blog beginning later in May and will contribute for the next 12 months. The new blog team will explore the Kenosha Area as "tourists in their own town" and share their adventures, tips, and hidden gems with local residents and travelers to the Kenosha Area. Blogs are typically posted twice a week at VisitKenosha.com. The bloggers are: Tricia Andrews, Christina Brzezinski, Nancy Davies, Gary Eckstein, Dana Harvey, Anna Hegland, Brittany Langham, Allen Radeck, Jared Rasmussen, and Erin Stuckey. Learn more about each of the bloggers
here.
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Media Visits
In a recent 17-day span, 23 travel writers/bloggers explored the Kenosha Area. The KACVB's Meridith Jumisko and Laura Tyunaitis led 18 ladies on a 2017 Women in Travel Summit pre-conference tour of Kenosha on April 21. The tour included Jelly Belly Visitor Center, the Civil War Museum, a lunch catered by Twisted Cuisine, and the Electric Streetcar. We heard nothing but compliments from the group! We expect many return visitors and future articles as a result of the contacts we made. To view the initial buzz surrounding the visit, scroll back to April 21 on our
VisitKenosha and
MJ_KenoshaPR twitter accounts, or search the #KenoshaFun hashtag on Twitter. View participant Lori Helke's post about the Civil War Museum
here.
We also had a few writers visit on their way to the Milwaukee conference, including Megan Bannister who has posted this article so far about the Southport Light Station Museum. In addition, Cheryl Eugenio visited in late April with her family for an upcoming Chicago Parent Magazine article and her own blog. She's posted this article so far. Last, Jacky Runice visited in early May for the Daily Herald, and possibly other media outlets. She specifically made this return visit to Kenosha to stay at the new Coffee Pot Inn, due to a KACVB media release.
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Lakefront Trolley Returns
The City of Kenosha's Lakefront Trolley is now operating on a route from the Pennoyer Park bandshell on the city's north side, through downtown and south to Kemper Center. The trolley service operates from 1:45 to 9:15 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays until the end of September. The rubber-tired trolley departs at
1:45 p.m. from the north end of Pennoyer Park at Seventh Avenue and 35th Street, and is scheduled to arrive at the southern end of its route 30 minutes later at Kemper Center, 6501 Third Avenue. The trolley route passes several art galleries near the Union Park neighborhood. Other highlights on the route include the History Center, the Civil War Museum and the Kenosha Public Museum. At 15 minute intervals, the trolley is scheduled to reach the downtown transit center, 724 54th St. There are marked stops for the "Lakefront Trolley" along the route, but people also can flag down the driver for pick up. To view a map of the route, visit the transit page on the city's web site: Kenosha.org. Fares are $1 for adults and $.50 for children.
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Downtown Resurfacing Project
Last month, the City of Kenosha hosted a public information meeting on the Downtown Kenosha resurfacing project. Roadway resurfacing will be done on Sixth Avenue & 58th Street: Sixth Avenue and Sixth Avenue 'A' - Seventh Avenue to 55th Street; and 58th Street - Seventh Avenue to Third Avenue. This project will include removing and replacing curb and gutter, storm sewer, milling, resurfacing with hot-mix asphalt, removing brick sidewalk/parkway and replacing with concrete sidewalk/ramps and a two feet wide band of brick parkway, decorative street lighting, tree planting and pavement markings. The project is scheduled to start on May 30, with substantial completion by Aug 25. As more details become available,
Kenosha.org will be updated. If you have any questions, please contact Kris Kochman at the City of Kenosha:
653-4177 or
[email protected]
.
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Opportunity for Dining Partners
Do you have the best BBQ in Kenosha? Here's your chance to prove it! Kenosha's Best BBQ Contest is open to all Kenosha Area restaurants
, pubs, and caterers. There is no entry fee! The event will take place as part of Grill Games on Friday, Aug 25. A percentage of the profits will be returned to participants. For more details, visit grillgames.org.
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Save the Date
The next Tourism Talks networking event will take place on Monday, June 5 in the evening at DoubleTree by Hilton™ in Pleasant Prairie. More information will be sent to you in the coming weeks.
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Featured Business: Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Newcomers to the Kenosha Area may not realize that many of today's popular stops for visitors didn't even exist 20 years ago when the KACVB first launched a website. In honor of tourism week, we take a look back on the past 20 years. In 2000, the largest municipality-owned recreation facility in the country opened - RecPlex. It has since expanded several times with its Aqua Arena and Ice Arena holding numerous competitions each year. Also in 2000, Electric Streetcars returned to Downtown Kenosha. Kenosha's fleet of seven authentic Electric Streetcars travel through Downtown Kenosha and along the Lake Michigan shore. In 2001, the popular Jelly Belly Visitor Center opened its doors and the Kenosha Public Museum opened at its new lakefront location. Also in 2001, the Kenosha History Center moved into its current location on Simmons Island. Read more>
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Dates 2 Know
Through 5/13: National Travel & Tourism Week
Through 5/13: Kenosha Area Free Days
5/29: Downtown Location Closed for Memorial Day
6/2: First Fridays @ the I-94 Visitor Information Center
6/5: Tourism Talks Evening Event
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KACVB Activity Report
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April 2017 |
YTD |
| Visitors Guide Requests |
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| Phone |
16 |
75 |
E-mail
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224 |
1,213 |
Reader Reply
|
951 |
1,507 |
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| I-94 Walk Ins |
2,181 |
5,504 |
| I-94 Phone Inquiries |
44 |
181 |
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| Downtown Walk Ins |
39 |
145 |
| Downtown Phone Inquiries |
37 |
152 |
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| Website Activity |
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Visitor Sessions
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32,469 |
113,678 |
Page Views
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82,633 |
293,987 |
Online Guide Page Views
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2,424 |
6,757 |
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Did you know that Kenosha Area has nearly 100 distinct parks and conservation spaces within our county boundaries? The City of Kenosha has 70 parks alone! Outdoor activities are just one of the many eco-friendly things visitors enjoy when in our community.
Learn more about the
Travel Green Wisconsin program
and how your business can become an eco-friendly site for tourists by contacting
Laura
today.
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Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Visitor Information Centers:
Downtown Kenosha | 262-654-7307 | 800-654-7309
812 - 56th Street, Kenosha, WI 53140 | Mon.-Fri. 8am-4:30pm
I-94 & Hwy. 165 Rest Area | 262-857-7164
10519 - 120th Avenue, Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158
April - October, 7 days a week 8am-4pm | November - March, Tues.-Sat. 8am-4pm
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