One of the biggest ongoing stories this year has been the discussion between the Cities of Manitowoc and Two Rivers and the Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau.
The tourism agreement between the three entities is scheduled to come to an end at the end of this year, and negotiations have not resulted in a solution at this point.
Jason Ring the President of the MAVCB said having all three groups working together is a bit of a challenge.
“We have different personalities involved in both areas, and of course I have a Board of Directors that I report to, and they have their ideas and their personalities,” Ring explained. “We are working to get all three of these groups together to form a contract that is acceptable to all sides.”
As far as where things sit now, Ring explained “Our most recent communication from the City of Manitowoc is that they were suspending negotiations with our organization. I don’t know what that means for continuing our contract. I know our organization feels strongly that Manitowoc and Two Rivers working together is by far the best thing for our community.”
He also said that the money aspect is not the biggest point of contention between the groups.
“We are at essentially a 50-50 split with the communities right now,” Ring said. “I think some of the control things are a bigger concern, and that’s where we are trying to get Two Rivers and Manitowoc on the same page as far as how much control each community gets to have, what that control is, how much responsibility comes to the Visitor and Convention Bureau, and then what the two communities do to oversee that.”
Ring said that should an agreement not come to fruition, the biggest losers will be the groups that depend on tourism. He put it bluntly, “Any pause that we take in promoting that tourism, there is going to be a noticeable impact” on those businesses.
The MAVCB has been serving the area since 1993, doing everything from bringing conventions to the area, like the recent Soo Line Convention, to marketing the area. They only work directly with Manitowoc and Two Rivers, but do promote events in the entire county.
