Businesses, municipalities had planned to try to work together more to lure visitors, but it will be a tough year for that

It’s ironic that the Wisconsin Department of Tourism last week released numbers on the impact that tourism has had on counties statewide.

This year, the impact is definitely going to be changed, as major events for the summer continue to be cancelled.

Pierce County tourism leaders worked hard last year to start putting together a blueprint for growing the industry here.

In Pierce County, direct visitor spending was up 3.56 percent in 2019, compared to 2018. Total business sales were up by that same percentage.

Statewide, tourism’s impact on the state’s economy reached $22.2 billion in 2019. Last year, tourism supported 202,217 jobs and visitor trips topped 113 million visits.

The Department of Tourism “plans for an economic bounceback when public health authorities determine it is safe to do so.”

“Travel plays a critical role in Wisconsin’s economic prosperity. Every year our state’s tourism industry celebrates National Travel and Tourism Week, and the Department of Tourism uses this time to release the previous year’s economic impact numbers,” said Secretary-designee, Sara Meaney. “We know that 2020 will not look like 2019. But the good news is that on the heels of a banner year for Wisconsin travel and tourism, the state has shown itself to be an increasingly sought-after destination, which gives the department confidence that it remains on the radar as a preferred destination for visitors. I encourage you to take pause and celebrate the positive news of 2019 as we look forward to supporting this important industry when it is safe to travel again.”

Pierce County

At the end of last year, Pierce County tourism leaders met at the offices of Pierce Pepin Cooperative to hear a presentation on results of surveys of local visitors.

Tourism leaders were told communities need to do a better job of working together to attract more visitors and tourism dollars.

That was one of the final major results of the Pierce County Tourism Brand Perception Study authored by a UW-La Crosse Tourism Research Initiative team.

The important information gleaned from community meetings, focus group sessions and visitor surveys came up with some telling findings.

“Throughout the data analyzed, a common trend that participants in both focus groups and public meetings noticed was the lack of cooperation between cities and business in Pierce County,” the study results state. “Currently it is an ‘everyone fend for themselves’ marketing technique, and cities are not working together to bring visitors to the county as a whole.”

One weakness noted was lack of signage pointing out unique county assets.

“All of the cities need better promotion and signage that would provide visitors better information on the array of opportunities available in the area and could help motivate them to stay longer or visit again… ”Tourists are much more likely to remember a frustrating experience at a destination (not knowing where to go or what to see), and in turn tell others about that poor experience. Better signage and more in-depth and readily available information could help prevent these types of experiences.

Tourism growth also needs to be in line with what communities want.

“It is important to keep the impact and, thus, the input of locals in the community central to the development efforts,” the study results state. “In the River Falls data specifically, there was concern about the conservation of Pierce County’s natural resources. The rivers and trout streams can begin to draw in more tourists, but it must be done in a controlled way to preserve what makes the area special in the first place.”

Communities need also to invest in tourism if they want more visitors.

“A weakness that was quite consistent with each city was poor infrastructure. This involved roads, storefronts, lodging, parking and public transportation. Participants felt that improving infrastructure will be a necessary step in attracting more visitors to the county and encouraging them to visit again. Many of the current visitors that come to any of the cities in Pierce County only stay for the day. This is in part due to the lack of lodging in the county. Participants felt strongly that in order to turn those day-trippers into overnight guests, infrastructure will have to be added an updated,” the study concludes.

According to the study’s executive summary, the UW-La Crosse team and PCEDC worked with “municipalities of Bay City, Ellsworth, Prescott and River Falls to conduct a Pierce County tourism brand perception study.”

Focus group and community input sessions “resulted in clear recommendations made by various stakeholders regarding necessary steps in both rebranding Pierce County as a tourism destination and enhancing tourism in the county. These recommendations included the need to build collaboration across tourism destinations in Pierce County, enhancing destination visibility and navigability for visitors, a focused alignment between planned growth and the wants of the community, enhanced investment in tourism and embracing the strengths and existing resources in Pierce County in any tourism development planning,” the executive summary states.

Data was collected over nine days from June-September. It was noted during the meeting that it would be interesting also to see data from winter visitors.

Visitors who stayed overnight on their trips to the county stayed an average of 2-3 nights.

“Overall, the primary visitor market currently consists of day-trip visitors from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan area or from comparable distances elsewhere in Minnesota and Wisconsin, drawn to the area for its beauty and offerings of fun activities, taking advantage of a place that is void of all the big city chaos. Differentiation is especially crucial as nearby St. Croix County is considered the most comparable destination to Pierce County. Future marketing efforts can highlight the unique ways in which fun experiences are offered throughout Pierce County and making potential visitors aware of opportunities that they are not familiar with right now,” the executive summary of the study states.

From the study, organizers are hoping a “Pierce County tourism brand” emerges.

“Currently the county lacks an indefinable brand. The purpose of this research project is to identify and understand the county’s brand form a county stakeholder perspective and visitor perspective. This will allow Pierce County representatives to establish their brand and develop marketing materials that better communicate what the communities have to offer with what target market desire,” the study states.

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