The City of Manitowoc is forming a new agreement with the Manitowoc Area Visitors and Convention Bureau (MAVCB).
Manitowoc’s Room Tax Commission approved the agreement during their meeting yesterday evening (May 20th).
It starts on June 1st and establishes a 20-year partnership designed to foster tourism growth and enhance visitor experience in Manitowoc. Mayor Justin Nickels says there hasn’t been an agreement since December of 2021.
“Almost four years here where we’ve been going back and forth,” he noted. “A lawsuit and everything that transpired since.”
The MAVCB sued the city in 2022, claiming that it broke state law when the tourism agreement ended in 2021.
Manitowoc County Judge Mark Rohrer ruled in 2023 that Manitowoc could only contract with the MAVCB if it wanted to utilize Room Tax dollars.
Since then, there have been multiple meetings through the city’s Room Tax Commission, which formed the new agreement.
Manitowoc will annually allocate $15,000 to the MAVCB, recognizing the funds as additional support for tourism initiatives in accordance with state statute.
Manitowoc will also extinguish the MAVCB’s existing debts, paid entirely from room tax dollars.
Nickels also says, “That opens up 100% of room taxes to be spent by the Room Tax Commission and by Visit Manitowoc for tourism moving forward.”
The mayor also explained the discussion about forming an agreement and how it really started to come together this year.
“A lot of moving parts really with this because there’s two organizations and how do you move forward,” he explained. “I think it’s a huge benefit for tourism in the community and I’m excited that the MAVCB could come to terms with us.”
The new agreement does make Visit Manitowoc the city’s official tourism organization, empowering it to oversee tourism and promotional activities for the next two decades.
The city voted on Monday to create the Visit Manitowoc Board, which will help the Room Tax Commission decide what to do with room tax dollars in the future.
The commission will be made up of three elected officials and three hotel industry representatives.
The city and MAVCB will work to appoint those members.
MAVCB Board Member Shooter Loch said, “On behalf of the organization, we feel we have found a great conclusion to the lapse of use of room tax in Manitowoc. The city is a true gem, and our future travelers can expect only the best facilities and entertainment while they are among us.”
