Back in 1983 when the National Travel and Tourism week was established by congressional resolution, The Brookfield Convention and Visitor’s Bureau wasn’t even a blip on Brookfield’s radar.  In fact, Visit Brookfield would not be established for another 10 years.  It seems strange, doesn’t it, given all our great country has to offer, that tourism has only been a nationally recognized “thing” for about 40 years. Boy, have we made up for lost time.

Yes! Around the Corner with John McGivern did a great episode on PBS featuring Brookfield and Elm Grove (If you didn’t see it, click here to view the episode!)

Visit Brookfield is funded entirely by City of Brookfield room tax, and we exist to promote the image and name recognition of Brookfield.  Visit Brookfield is tasked with advancing the interest of all visitors to Brookfield; be it business travelers, families, conference-goers, or leisure travelers.   In doing so, we also advance the economic climate for all those who reside or do business in Brookfield.

header the impact of tourism

 

The daily population swells from 50,000 people to well over 120,000.  If we agree that the modern definition of a tourist is 1) visitors staying away from home for 1 or more nights, 2) visitors staying away from home for more than 3 hours or, 3) visitors who spend less than 3 hours away from home then it radically challenges the traditional concept of a tourist as someone who packs a suitcase, grabs their map and camera and heads out the door.   Now, a business traveler or conference attendee is a tourist.  People who work in Brookfield but live elsewhere are tourists.   Afternoon shoppers and evening diners are tourists.  Economically speaking, that’s a game changer.

Let’s look at some numbers.

Local Initiatives:

  • Annually, Visit Brookfield invests $500,000 in local, regional and national publications and online platforms.
  • Additional dollars are spent on producing an annual Visitor’s guide and relocation information, Coupon Book, the Visit Brookfield website and app, and Dine in Brookfield event.
  • Brookfield makes up 3% of the overall tourism spending in the State of Wisconsin and 40% of the overall spending in Waukesha County.
  • During 2017 tourism is Brookfield sustained over 4,076 jobs.
  • Visitor spending in the Brookfield market rose by 3.21% in 2017 to $283.5 million.

vs-per-category

State Efforts:

  • The tourism economy supports nearly 25% of all food and beverage jobs in Wisconsin.
  • The tourism economy generates $1.5 billion in state and local revenue, saving Wisconsin taxpayers $650 per household.
  • Tourism had a $20 billion impact on the state’s economy in 2016. This is a 3.5% increase over 2015.

 

wisconsin waukesha county and brookfield