MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — The Lakeshore prepares for one of the biggest events in the area's history.
- Visit Manitowoc projects the NFL Draft will bring Manitowoc a $1 to $2 million economic impact
- Hotels are around 60% full two weeks out and some visitors have already started scheduling transportation
- Shari Stevens drives for Uber and says she exects to give around 1,000 rides
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
In two weeks, the NFL Draft will bring hundreds of thousands of fans to Northeast Wisconsin. Many of the draft visitors will overflow to the Lakeshore, where our communities are preparing to host and make sure they can get around.
Step one is a place to stay.
"People are already calling and saying, 'Hey, how far away are you from the draft?’," said Floyd Cooper.
Cooper is the manager of the Cobblestone Hotel in Two Rivers. He says they are 60% full for draft weekend, but he expects that to rise.
"Doubling up staff,” Cooper said. “Getting people more prepared to deal with an influx of people."
Down the road in Manitowoc, Director of Tourism Courtney Hansen says 60% is on par with their current numbers.
"We're looking at an economic impact of well between $1 to $2 million in Manitowoc alone,” said Hansen.
Although she says they do not have numbers for rental properties, such as for Airbnb, Travel Wisconsin numbers show a visitor will generate the area about $237 a night. Still not far from the Mecca of football.
“It takes 40, 30 minutes or longer to get across a major city,” says Hansen. “In that time frame, you can get from Green Bay to Manitowoc.”
Like with hotels, many visitors are also setting up transportation options. I met Shari Stevens on Facebook as she was already offering NFL fans rides to Green Bay.
“Yeah, they have been starting already,” Stevens said. “They’re planning ahead what they can do.”
Shari drives for Uber, one option in getting to the draft. A shuttle through Bay Bus in Green Bay will offer a ride to just over 100 people on Thursday and 50 on Friday.
Shari is prepared for everyone else.
“In the course of the week, it’s probably going to be close to 1,000 rides.”
That breaks down to around 100 to 200 rides everyday for Shari.
“It can be a little overwhelming at first when you think about it, but when you divide it up into 12 hours each day, it’s not as bad,” Stevens said.
Click here for more information on the Lakeshore's NFL Draft plan.
