The Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau was established in 1986.
Around that time it was difficult to envision Kenosha County as a tourist destination.
Thirty years later Tourism has become a vital part of the local Kenosha economy, creating new jobs, adding tax revenue and enhancing the overall quality of life in the community.
“Tourism is important, not only in the (economic) growth we’ve seen in the past five years,” said Dennis DuChene, the tourism bureau’s president. “It adds to the quality of life. The Kenosha area is a great place to visit.” Many of the same events, attractions and natural elements that attract visitors, also benefit residents, DuChene continued.
“The many unique attractions we have,” are a part of the draw, Duchene explained. “We have the cultural attractions on the lakefront, the Civil War Museum and the Civic Museum. And we have fun things like the Jelly Belly tour out in Pleasant Prairie.”
According to data released by state tourism officials, travelers spent an estimated $196.6 million in Kenosha County in 2015, an 8.1 percent increase over 2014. In visitor spending growth, the county ranked fourth in Wisconsin last year – the second year in the top 10. Kenosha County visitor spending has grown an average of 6.4 percent annually since 2010.
According to state calculations, tourism in Kenosha County generated $22.1 million in state and local tax revenues and $14.8 million in Federal tax revenues last year.
The county competes with Illinois and counties to the north and west for new manufacturing, warehousing and logistics jobs, tourism-related businesses often consider the Kenosha area a superior choice for their operations.
“A number of charter boat captains have (relocated) from other ports to the Kenosha harbor,” he said. “We have a great harbor and one of the longest seasons and highest catch rates. It’s a strong industry for us. We offer great value here, too. When people come to town (to hire a fishing boat), they don’t have to pay to park. And they can stay at a lakefront hotel.”
DuChene highlights the willingness of Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie to build and improve facilities that draw thousands of people every year as a sign of their commitment to tourism.
“Over the past couple of years, there have been improvements to (Kenosha’s) Nash Park and that has been a great help in (making it available) to host tournaments,” he said. “We’re hopeful that when the Velodrome (renovation) is complete, we’ll be able to host national races. Without the city’s help, that project would have never been done.”
“Pleasant Prairie has been very supportive, not just with events, buit also with the room tax of 8 percent, of which we get 90 percent. They have never argued over that funding. They understand the importance of tourism.”
The KACVB is not about to let recent successes go to its head. DuChene and his staff remain busy inventing and reinventing the organization. It uses a number of social media tools to create a daily stream of information, calendar items, photos and blogs to highlight the many events taking place.