Tourism Insights
Tourism moves Milwaukee forward
Tourism does more than fill hotel rooms. It fuels Milwaukee’s momentum. Every meeting booked, every weekend getaway and every major event creates a ripple effect across our community. Visitors support local restaurants, attractions, venues and small businesses, generating revenue that strengthens the places we live, work and gather. Visit Milwaukee connects the world to our city, turning travel into jobs, investment and opportunity for residents across the region. Explore the impact and see how tourism helps power a stronger, more vibrant Milwaukee for everyone.
Visit Milwaukee's Performance
How Visit Milwaukee Contributes to a thriving tourism economy in Milwaukee County.
|
|
2024
|
2025
|
YoY % Change
|
|
Visitor spending generated for every dollar spent on advertising
|
$42:1
|
$72:1
|
+$74.1%
|
|
Hotel room nights booked by VM sales team in calendar year
|
287,000
|
328,000
|
+14.2%
|
|
Estimated economic impact of events booked by VM sales team taking place in that calendar year
|
$532,566,513*
|
$264,416,780
|
-50.3%
|
|
Hotel room nights booked by VM sales team for future years
|
$297,413,156
|
$351,233,844
|
+18.1%
|
|
Conversion rate of requested rooms by VM sales team in that calendar year
|
26.6%
|
26.9%
|
+1.12%
|
*RNC hosting impact.
Milwaukee Tourism's Performance
How Milwaukee's tourism ecosystem evolves year over year.
|
|
2024
|
2025
|
YoY %
Change
|
|
Percentage of spending across all categories generated by visitors
|
28%
|
28%
|
0.0%
|
|
Visitor % of restaurant spend
|
82%
|
86%
|
+4.8%
|
|
Visitor % of retail spend
|
34%
|
34%
|
0.0%
|
|
Visitor % of attraction spend
|
32%
|
32%
|
0.0%
|
|
Average length of stay for an overnight visitor
|
1.4
|
1.4
|
0.0%
|
|
Direct visitor spending in Milwaukee County
|
$2.439B
|
$2.507B
|
+2.8%
|
|
State and local taxes generated by visitors to Milwaukee County
|
$242.2M
|
$244.9M
|
+1.1%
|
|
Full and part-time hospitality and tourism jobs in Milwaukee County
|
28,091
|
27,812
|
-0.9%
|
Milwaukee Performance vs. Competitive Set
How Milwaukee County stacks up against our peers across the country.
|
|
2024
|
2025
|
YoY %
Change
|
|
Milwaukee County Revenue per available room (RevPAR)
|
$78.58
|
$78.66
|
+0.1%
|
|
Comp Set average RevPar
|
$78.58
|
$79.50
|
+1.2%
|
|
Visit Milwaukee annual budget
|
$13,302,780
|
$13,426,000
|
+0.9%
|
|
Comp set average annual budget
|
$18,840,000
|
Jan. 2027
|
0.0%
|
Milwaukee Competitive Set
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Columbus, OH
Detroit, MI
Indianapolis, IN
Kansas City, MO
Louisville, KY
Minneapolis, MN
Pittsburgh, PA
Saint Louis, MO
Visitor Insights
Visit Milwaukee gains insight into visitors’ travel patterns, origin markets, hotel stays, media preferences and more using data from Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company that is a leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis. Review the monthly summary here:
Tourism Toolkit
Find everything you wanted to know about Milwaukee using these fact sheets, complete with everything from the number of hotel rooms in the Greater Milwaukee area to the square footage of beachfront along the city's shoreline.
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