The Tourism Council consists of 14 members representing business, government, chamber and tourism interests throughout the county. Paul Roback, UW- EX is an advisory member.

The Council meets on the first Monday of each month. The primary purpose of the Council is to coordinate and promote tourism activities of all the communities, and to actively market Ozaukee County as a tourist destination.

The Council has approximately 140+ member businesses and organizations that pay dues of $75 to $150, depending on the size of the organization. An additional 600+ businesses have been solicited for membership in 2004. This resulted in our increasing our budgeted dues income to $12,000 for 2004. The Council’s part-time membership coordinator/administrative assistant that was hired in 2001 is doing this member solicitation. Her salary is partly funded by a percentage formula of bringing in new members. Her activities allow the volunteer board to concentrate on promotion of the county, production of the Visitor Guide, and distribution of this guide in response to advertising. (As the promotional activities of the Board become more successful, these associated duties and responsibilities require more time.)

The most visible product of the Tourism Council, for residents and visitors, is the annual Visitor Guide. The Council printed 50,000 of these guides for 2003. As in the past, advertising revenue pays for the Guides, with a percentage of this revenue coming back to the Council as non-dues revenue. In 2003, as in 2002, a distribution system was put in place to ensure all members, Chamber offices, and Visitor Centers, as well as other distribution points in the county received the Guides. These Guides are then mailed in response to visitors’ requests prompted by our advertising, sent to other Chamber offices in the state, and to all the Travel Information Centers in the state. Virtually 100% of the Visitor Guides will be distributed by the time the 2004 Guide is printed this April.

In addition, 30,000 ‘teaser pieces’ were produced by the Council that were then distributed to hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions in the Milwaukee area. The purpose of this brochure is to prompt people to call our toll-free number or visit our website to receive a complete Visitor Guide and Calendar of Events.

The Council operates a toll-free number or tourism information out of the Port Washington Chamber/Visitor Center. In 2003, the number of calls received again increased significantly, with over 2,500 requests for information on the county. (This number includes, mail, email and phone requests.) Phone costs increased almost $150 to around $750 in 2003, and postage actually went over budget, to over $3,275. This is due to the higher than expected increase in requests for information on Ozaukee County that had to be mailed out. A significant reason for this increase was the promotion and specialty advertising for the Interurban Trail.

The Council runs advertising to promote tourism in the county, as well as the Interurban Trail, in major publications in Chicago, Madison, and Milwaukee. Ads are also run in specialty publications such as Midwest Express, Silent Sports and Wisconsin Trails that have a multi-state circulation. Advertising has been expanded to promote the Interurban Trail, both within existing ads, as well as on its own. It is all of these ads that generate the calls we receive on our toll-free number. Last year advertising was at $17,000, due to some circumstances such as additional dollars needed to advertise the Trail properly and to reprint the ‘Teaser Piece’ for Harley 100^th.

The Council, with the assistance of Paul Roback, simplified how people may access information from the web site. The influx in requests from the web site is tremendous. From May ’03 through December ’03, there were 512 emails to the Trail site. Of the 512 emails received, 56 were from out of state, 403 were from out of county, 51 were from within the county and 2 were from out of the country. The web addresses for both tourism and the Trail are also always promoted in the advertising the Council does.

The Council operates booths at the Ozaukee County Fair, at the Grand Avenue Mall, and is represented at the Wisconsin State Fair, annually. In addition, last year the Council made every effort to be represented at NACO and we were successful. Success was also met in Thiensville at the Harley 100^th anniversary celebration. The Council has contacted the PGA as it is being held in Kohler this August. The new Golf Pro at Squires will be a great help to our organization. Though we are not in a position to create and staff events ourselves, due to the volunteer nature of the board, we do take advantage of opportunities to promote the County and its amenities.

The Wisconsin Department of Tourism reported that for 2002, (latest year figures available) tourism in Ozaukee County resulted in over $99 million in sales revenues, an increase of 8.5% over 2001. Tourism spending in the county has increased 127% since 1993. Tourism spending in 2002 resulted in $495,000 in county sales tax revenues, including sales tax, property tax, and lodging tax. The Tourism Council believes that their activities have had a significant impact on generating additional revenue for the county and its businesses.

The increase in the Council’s budgeted expenses for 2004 is primarily due to adding the responsibility of promoting the Interurban Trail, along with the associated fulfillment expenses. Aside from the Council’s very part-time staff person, all of the Council’s expenses continue to reflect only the cost of materials, services, etc. of its activities. The labor continues to be donated by the volunteer board members, with the assistance of the Chambers, visitor centers, and businesses.

Mary Monday

President