The heavy focus on tourism in Manitowoc County is continuing to pay dividends.
Visit Manitowoc hosted its annual Travel and Tourism Week Breakfast Wednesday morning, where Mayor Justin Nickels noted that tourism plays a “critical” role in the local economy.
Visit Manitowoc Director of Tourism Courtney Hansen echoed that sentiment, calling the focus on bringing people in from around the state, the country, and the world a “powerhouse” of the local economy.
In fact, the 2023 tourism statistics released by Travel Wisconsin noted that Manitowoc County saw a 4% increase in tourism dollars up to $226 million, which is a new record for the county.
Hansen told SeehaferNews.com that this is great news, which came on the back of a lot of hard work.
“We’re really spending our dollars elsewhere to target outside demographics, to make them drive, make them fly to Manitowoc, Wisconsin,” she explained. “Come to our community, spend a weekend, spend a week.”
Hansen noted that their efforts have paid off in areas like Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis, and even as far south as Dallas, Texas.
Once people get here, there are many ways they can find restaurants, events, and attractions, but the newest are the information kiosks that are located at the Car Ferry Dock, the Inn on Maritime Bay, the Holiday Inn, and a mobile kiosk at the Visit Manitowoc Office.
“It’s really cool to log into the back-end dashboard where we can see, you know, how many sessions there have been or what that average duration is,” Hansen said with a smile. “A lot of times when I come in Monday morning and take a look at that session duration, you can see that there’s been some really long sessions that folks were standing there really taking a look at different things that they want to do in the community.”
Hansen also highlighted the new Hampton Inn and Suites being constructed next door to the AMC Movie Theater, which is the first new hotel built in the Clipper City in the past 20 years.
“It wasn’t the city of Manitowoc that said, ‘Hey, we want a new hotel.’ That was something that the company…decided. They did the research,” she explained. “We are a destination and market for a new gorgeous amenity like that, and that these brands would shoot very well in our community.”
Hansen estimated that the hotel will be opening later this year, and noted that Odyssey Hotels also owns an additional plot with plans to add another hotel.
Hansen gave praise to Travel Wisconsin, as their co-op has been a big catalyst for bringing visitors to the area.
Visit Manitowoc is continuing to expand their services, with new postcards being printed, additional sections getting added to the website and physical tourism guide, and they also plan on expanding their outdoor movie showings, with the highlight being a screening of Jaws on the beach.
Pat Reiley, the owner of the Inn on Maritime Bay, celebrated that event by dressing up in a shark costume, much to the delight of everyone in attendance.
The 2024 tourism statistics are expected to be released in early to mid-June.
