GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Green Bay is one of the largest tourist attractions in the state. Now, it’s getting a new amenity to match it’s growing tourism industry.
After receiving $2.5 million of state funding for tourism projects, the Experience Greater Green Bay Corporation now has the funds it needs to start construction on a new visitors center. Brad Toll, CEO of Discover Green Bay, says getting a stand-alone visitors center to help connect with tourists is something the agency has been discussing for years .
"This is the primary tool that nearly every city is using," Toll said. "We have 6 million visitors coming here every year and when they're here we don't talk to them."
Brown County has the fifth largest tourist revenue in the state, with an estimated economic impact of 1 billion dollars. In addition, approximately $55 million in state taxes and $45 million in local taxes are generated from Green Bay area tourism each year.
Discover Green Bay hopes to capitalize on those visitors by using the visitors center to direct them to local businesses.
“Being able to to engage with folks when they’re in our market and be that bridge from what they’re seeing on their digital devices and getting them physically into our community and supporting the local businesses and restaurants and hotels is really going to be key for Discover Green Bay and for the tourists who are in our community,” said Nick Meisner, the Vice President of Marketing and Communications.
While the location is not completely finalized, the visitors center is expected to be built off of I-41 near Lombardi Avenue. In total, Toll estimates the visitors center will cost about $7 million. However, this won’t be your average visitors center filled with pamphlets.
The center will emphasize Brown County history and give local businesses a chance to showcase themselves through small exhibits or samples for visitors.
"We're going to have stories about the area, how it came to be, the partnership with the Oneida Nation, things like how the Green Bay Packers formed, the paper industry," Meisner said.
Instead of paper pamphlets, the visitors center will digitally showcase what's going on in the community. Officials hope the center will serve as a place to draw visitors into the community and hopefully keep them coming back for more.
“We’re going to have multiple TVs throughout the visitors center that will showcase what’s going on on social media live," Meisner said. "So if you use a certain hashtag while you’re in the community or post to a certain feed, people in the visitors center are going to be able to see what’s going on.”
