Wisconsin’s governor returned to Manitowoc yesterday as part of a tourism campaign.
This week is National Travel and Tourism Week, and Tony Evers has been traveling around Wisconsin with State Tourism Director Anne Sayers, highlighting some of the amazing places people can see in the Badger State.
He specifically toured the USS Cobia, which was drydocked last year with help from the state legislature.
Evers called places like the Wisconsin Maritime Museum a reason why people want to come and tour around Wisconsin.
“You’re looking at something and hear you can actually get in a submarine and think about what it was like during World War II to live there and to fight a war,” he explained. “We have lost of things in Wisconsin that people don’t fly through anymore.”
When it comes to drydocking Cobia, Gov. Evers said there are times the state must step up to help groups.
“That was one of them,” he noted. “To get that boat up to the Green Bay area to get fixed and being able to come back here for another several years before it has to do it again, it’s a good investment.”
Tourism Director Anne Sayers explains that Wisconsin has broken tourism records in the last three years, including a record number of visitors last year at 114 million.
Where are tourists going?
Sayers says, all over the Badger State.
“We continue at Travel Wisconsin to be marketing the entire state,” she remarked, “So who we are as a people and how our attractions, our destinations, are united through Wisconsin, which is a lot about being unexpected, about being neighborly, about being refreshing and down to earth. That’s who we are, and it’s our job to make sure visitors experience that when they are here.”
Sayers noted that many people visit Wisconsin because of outdoor recreation and events.
When it comes to the USS Cobia, both she and Gov. Evers enjoyed their tour.
“They’ve done such a nice job being able to welcome visitors into that experience, and so they can really feel what it was like and have that touchstone back to history. I thought it was so beautifully featured,” Sayers recalled.
Gov. Evers added, “This time I got to look at things myself (without having to keep track of his kids). So, it was good.”
While there were many visitors to Wisconsin, Gov. Evers also explained that $12 billion was added to Wisconsin’s economy through outdoor recreation.
Before coming to Manitowoc, Gov. Evers and Sayers toured the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay.
