SO, HOW DO YOU DEFINE A VISITOR?

Visitors are anyone who comes to the Greater Milwaukee area to stay at one of our hotels or drives in for a day trip. This includes everyone from a group of friends on vacation, an executive on business, an attendee of a convention, a family going to a reunion, or even your BFF who took the train up to see G Love & Special Sauce perform at Potawatomi Hotel and Casino…and then won at the slots.

HOW MANY CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS DID YOU HOST LAST YEAR?

VISIT Milwaukee attracts and hosts nearly 500 events each year. The city welcomes a wide variety of events, from major annual conventions like the Northwestern Mutual Annual Convention to sports events like the U.S. Open and the USA Junior Nationals Volleyball Championships, as well as smaller corporate events like executive meetings, trainings, and seminars. Conventions and business meetings generate over $160 million in economic impact for the Wisconsin Center, our area convention center.

Milwaukee is a popular destination because of our location on the shores of Lake Michigan, our affordability, our fantastic hotels, the Midwestern hospitality, and our downtown walkability to great attractions, restaurants, theaters, and sporting events. All of these events have a long-term impact on the growth and prosperity of the region.

We also help with large weddings and family reunions, too. Who knew?!

For full details on last year's events, check out our annual report.

WHY DOES TOURISM MATTER?

In all, nearly 23 million people visit Milwaukee each year for convention, events, business, and leisure travel. All of these visitors support local business and the local economy, which supports local jobs. Every year, tourism is responsible for over $5.7 billion in economic impact to the area. That means visitors bring new money to the community, which keeps over 52,000 people employed full-time and keeps our hotels, restaurants, theaters, and attractions full of people. Then these people go home to tell even more people about how much fun they had in Milwaukee, which brings even more people to our destination.

WHY DON’T I SEE MORE OF VISIT MILWAUKEE AROUND TOWN?

You are probably already in Milwaukee, which means we don’t need to advertise to you! VISIT Milwaukee focuses its advertising efforts in cities within a six-hour drive, which is most of the Midwest. We do this through a variety of marketing and earned-media efforts (online, print, TV, radio, etc.), promotional activities (contests, giveaways, newsletters, etc.) and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Are you following us?

But you might catch one of our Communications Team members on local TV talking about all of the great events happening in the area. Our PR team also welcomes travel writers from around the world to Milwaukee and shows them the best our city has to offer. This year-round effort has resulted in some big media mentions for us, including stories in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, VOGUE, Lonely Planet, Boston Globe, UK Guardian, Women’s Health, Reader's Digest, Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Runner's World, and Better Homes & Gardens.

VISIT Milwaukee also markets around the nation to lure meeting planners to Milwaukee, and with them, their convention attendees. We have a dedicated sales force that has long-standing relationships with meeting planners from all over the country. This team travels to tradeshows, conventions, and events year-round to sell Milwaukee and attract business to the Wisconsin Center, area hotels, and other meeting facilities. Plus, they host their own site visits in Milwaukee to showcase all of our amenities first-hand.

WHAT ELSE DOES VISIT MILWAUKEE DO?

Not to brag, but since you asked….

ADVOCACY: VISIT Milwaukee also is the primary advocate for the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries here in the Greater Milwaukee area. We work with City, County, and State leaders to promote the region as a destination of choice for conventions, business, events and leisure travel. Our leadership team, led by president & CEO Paul Upchurch, serves on various boards, organizations, and community associations to help promote our mission and stay apprised of new developments, legislation and initiatives that impact the region.

SUPPORT: Through the help of volunteers and staff, we support community events that align with our mission, like the Milwaukee Film Festival, Bronzeville Week, The Brewers Marathon, the Milwaukee Running Festival, the Holiday Lights Festival, Bublr Bikes, the Downtown Trolley, Doors Open Milwaukee, the Harley-Davidson Rally, UPAF Ride for the Arts, and more. 

RECRUITMENT: We provide assistance to Milwaukee’s major corporations as they work to attract and retain the best talent in the world. We offer expertise, education, programs, information and more to help our Fortune 500 companies, world-class hospitals and international corporations make sure they have the best and brightest right here in Milwaukee.