Delegates want to draw international crowd to northern Wisconsin

Travelers spend about $13 billion a year in Wisconsin, according to the state Department of Tourism.

And Superior Days delegates want to make sure northern Wisconsin, with all its natural amenities gets a share of the pie.

Delegates lobbied the tourism department to look at ongoing and additional opportunities to promote northern Wisconsin.

“It’s refreshing that we get to talk about fun,” said Sarah Klavas, director of Industry Relations and Services in the Department of Tourism.

“We do have a very good working relationship with the department of tourism, said Mary Motiff, director of the Bayfield County Tourism and Recreation. Motiff said the tourism department has been supportive of the efforts to draw tourism northern Wisconsin.

While statewide, one-in-11 jobs are related to the tourism industry, one-in-four in Bayfield County relies on tourism, Motiff said, making that support essential.

However, there are more opportunities to promote northern Wisconsin by looking northward for international travel and by promoting local jewels for tourism.

Canada has real potential for northern Wisconsin, Motiff said. She said it’s seen as a driving destination despite being an international travel opportunity.

“Interestingly enough, it is the lowest hanging fruit, so we’re going to pick it, Klavas said. “It is going to be the No. 1 market in our new marketing plan for two reasons — No. 1, the proximity and No. 2, we can eliminate any language barriers.”

She said there are also media markets in Canada that will make the sell easier.

“A lot of people in the Canadian market do come by motor coach,” Klavas said. “… That does continue to be on our radar screen.”

Delegates also pitched the idea of promoting public lands for tourism, areas like the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.

The state will be providing the tools needed for that promotion, Klavas said. She said the Department of Tourism is planning to launch a new Travel Wisconsin website that will give local tourism organizations the tool to promote areas of interest on the state’s website. A soft launch of the new website is planned for Wednesday.

“It’s our job to make it happen,” Klavas said.

Tags: bayfield county, douglas county, ashland county, news, travel, superior, madison