As a lawsuit lingers, Manitowoc tourism director says building new city department has been 'very fun and exciting'
MANITOWOC – The new Tourism Department for the city of Manitowoc is on a mission to bring local marketing and promotion into the digital age and into the downtown.
“It’s very fun and exciting to be able to build it from the ground up and really, every step along the way, just shoot for the stars,” said Courtney Hansen, Manitowoc’s tourism director.
The tourism department was formed earlier this year by the Manitowoc Room Tax Commission after the city broke its ties with the Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau, which has since sued, claiming the city is required to contract with the bureau.
The city also evicted the Visitor and Convention Bureau from its location on Calumet Avenue last year. The bureau now operates its Visitor Center from the former Lakeshore Technical College campus on Dewey Street.
Hansen's goals for the new tourism department since starting in February have been twofold — create a strong digital marketing and social media presence, and establish a new Visitor Center in downtown Manitowoc.
One of the first pieces in her destination marketing plan was to create an identity for Manitowoc tourism. So, “Visit Manitowoc” was born.
Under that title, the department has created profiles and pages in Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
One TikTok video about cheese curds in Manitowoc has reached over 20,000 views.
“One of our goals, number one, was to do things differently than they have been done before and really bring this department and this industry within our community to the next generation,” Hansen said.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic changed how people travel – many are looking for a “beautiful, charming lakeshore community like ours.”
“We don’t need to just be that destination that you just happen to stop at to go to the bathroom on the way to somewhere else,” Hansen said. “We really want to market our community as a destination.”
Another piece of the marketing puzzle is to create a visual identity, so that people not only recognize the name “Visit Manitowoc,” they recognize the logo and other designs as part of the tourism effort.
Hansen said all those pieces will be tied together with a new website the department is working on.
The second goal, establishing a downtown Visitor Center, is partially filled by the Tourism Department’s presence at the car ferry ticket office, but Hansen said there are plans for a more permanent location.
“This isn’t something I would have recommended 10 years ago, or even five years ago, but our downtown has changed so much, and this is where we really want to drive people,” Hansen said.
The Tourism Department plans to always have a presence at the ticket office during the S.S. Badger’s operating season, May to October, since hundreds of people come through that office each day.
The Tourism Department, which is overseen by the city of Manitowoc’s Room Tax Commission, is completely funded with an 8% tax levied specifically on hotels and other places of lodging and used to promote tourism in the area.
Under past agreements with the Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau, the city would send roughly half of the room tax money generated in the previous year to the bureau.
However, last year the city of Manitowoc’s Room Tax Commission decided not to renew the services agreement with the bureau and instead create a tourism department with the city.
The city of Two Rivers followed suit and created its own tourism department, which is currently headed by interim director Amy James.
James did not respond to the Herald Times Reporter's requests for an interview.
The city of Manitowoc is now entangled in a lawsuit with the Visitor and Convention Bureau. The bureau claims that as the only tourism entity in the county, the city has no choice but to contract with its organization, and that the newly developed Manitowoc tourism department does not meet the state’s requirements of a tourism entity.
The city of Two Rivers was added as a third-party defendant but was withdrawn from the case on Aug. 8.
Attorneys for the city of Manitowoc say the state law on spending room tax money says the funds can be forwarded to a tourism entity like the Visitor and Convention Bureau, or to a commission dedicated to tourism.
The next date for the case is a scheduling conference on Oct. 7.
Despite the lawsuit, both Manitowoc and Two Rivers have not only moved forward with their tourism departments, but Hansen said the two cities are collaborating.
“We’re excited to be working together,” she said. “We know that our communities are very close … so we’ll continue to promote both of our communities together.”
Hansen’s department has already made a mark in Manitowoc. Recently, it announced $75,000 in new Christmas decorations for the city, including light pole garlands and a 26-foot Christmas tree that will be on display in the downtown area.
Manitowoc’s tourism department also will organize the Lakeshore Holiday Parade and next year’s Fourth on the Shore event.
Contact Alisa Schafer at aschafer@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlisaMSchafer.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc tourism director: Building department 'fun and exciting'
