 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | December 24, 1995 |
| Jurisdiction | Wisconsin |
| Headquarters | 3319 W Beltline Hwy Madison, Wisconsin |
| Employees | 34 |
| Annual budget | $36,334,300 (2021) [1] |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | TravelWisconsin.com |
| | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | December 24, 1995 |
| Jurisdiction | Wisconsin |
| Headquarters | 3319 W Beltline Hwy Madison, Wisconsin |
| Employees | 34 |
| Annual budget | $36,334,300 (2021) [1] |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | TravelWisconsin.com |
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin responsible for marketing and promoting the state as a travel destination. [3] The Department has been led by Anne Sayers since December of 2020. [4]
A primary tool that the department uses to fulfill its mission and duties is maintaining its official web site, TravelWisconsin.com, which contains a wide variety of information, including access to reservations at various amenities. Although the department has had the site since 1996, a major update occurred in 2001 as part of a strategic re-prioritization of information technology. [5]
Tourism is a huge economic driver in Wisconsin. In 2018, the industry had a $21.6 billion impact on the state with more than 112 million visitors. Additionally, tourism in 2018 generated $1.6 billion in state and local revenue and $1.2 billion in federal taxes and supported 199,073 jobs in the state of Wisconsin. [6] In 2021, Wisconsin tourism had a $20.9 billion total economic impact and supported more than 169,000 full and part-time jobs.
Although a department of tourism was called for by leaders as early as 1967, [7] prior to 1995 state sponsored tourism promotion was performed as a division of other departments. [8] The department began operations on December 24, 1995, under its first secretary Richard "Moose" Speros. [9]
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism invests heavily in ventures around the state through grant programs. [10]
Four boards are attached to the Department of Tourism: [8]
| Secretary | Took office | Left office | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Speros | December 24, 1995 | January 6, 2003 | Appointed by Tommy Thompson |
| Kevin Shibilski | January 6, 2003 | May 2, 2003 | Appointed by Jim Doyle |
| Jim Holperin | May 12, 2003 | January 7, 2007 | Appointed by Jim Doyle |
| Kelli A. Trumble | January 7, 2007 | January 3, 2011 | Appointed by Jim Doyle |
| Stephanie Klett | January 3, 2011 | January 7, 2019 | Appointed by Scott Walker |
| Sara Meaney | January 7, 2019 | December 1, 2020 | Appointed by Tony Evers |
| Anne Sayers | December 1, 2020 | Current | Appointed by Tony Evers |
Wisconsin is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by land area and the 20th-most populous.
Tommy George Thompson is an American Republican politician from Juneau County, Wisconsin. He served as the 19th United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005 in the cabinet of President George W. Bush. Before that, he was the 42nd governor of Wisconsin (1987–2001) and Republican floor leader in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1981–1987).
James Edward Doyle Jr. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Wisconsin from 2003 to 2011. In his first election to the governorship, he narrowly defeated incumbent Republican governor Scott McCallum. Although in 2002 Democrats increased their number of governorships, Doyle was the only one of them to unseat a Republican.
Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 78th district, and from 1999 to 2013 represented Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. In 2012, Baldwin was elected to the United States Senate, defeating Republican nominee Tommy Thompson. In 2018, Baldwin was reelected, defeating Republican nominee Leah Vukmir. On April 12, 2023, Baldwin announced her candidacy for reelection in the 2024 Senate election in Wisconsin.
Scott Kevin Walker is an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Milwaukee County executive from 2002 to 2010.
The Wisconsin State Fair is an annual event held at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. The modern fair takes place in August and lasts 11 days.
Alliant Energy Center is a multi-building complex located in Madison, Wisconsin. It comprises 164 acres (0.66 km2) of greenspace and includes the 255,000-square-foot (23,700 m2) Exhibition Hall, the 10,000-seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the 29-acre (0.12 km2) Willow Island, several multi-use pavillions, and the 22,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) Arena. The Center welcomes more than one million people attending more than 500 events annually, ranging from local meetings and banquets to large sporting events and major concerts.
David Thomas Prosser Jr. is an American jurist and politician who served as Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1995 to 1996, and as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1998 to 2016. He was an advisor to Wisconsin Assembly speaker Robin Vos as Vos sought a rationale for impeaching current Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Janet Protasiewicz.
Robin Joseph Vos is an American businessman and Republican politician and the 79th speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, serving in that role since 2013. He has been a member of the Assembly since 2005, representing most of the southern half of Racine County. Vos is also president of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
James C. Holperin is a retired American politician from Vilas County, Wisconsin. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate (2009–2012) and State Assembly (1983–1994), representing northern Wisconsin. He also served as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism from during the first term of Governor Jim Doyle. He is the only state legislator in history to face recall twice, surviving both.
Christopher J. Larson is an American Democratic politician and a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing southeast Milwaukee County since 2011. He was Senate minority leader from 2013 through 2014, and currently serves as Senate Democratic caucus chair.
Rebecca Ann Kleefisch is an American politician and former television reporter who served as the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected to the position on November 2, 2010, as the running mate of Governor Scott Walker; the pair narrowly lost reelection to a third term in 2018.
Anthony Steven Evers is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2009 to 2019.
Mary Patricia Burke is an American businesswoman. She was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in the 2014 election. She served as a member of the Madison, Wisconsin, school board from April 30, 2012, until July 5, 2019. Burke is a former executive at Trek Bicycle Corporation; she also served as the Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce from January 2005 to November 2007. She is the daughter of Trek Bicycle Corporation founder Richard Burke.
The 2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election was a special election to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. It resulted in voters re-electing incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker over the Democratic candidate Tom Barrett by a larger margin than he had in 2010, in which Walker had also faced Barrett. Recall organizers opposed Walker's agenda, particularly his limiting of collective bargaining rights for state employees and they collected over 900,000 signatures to initiate the recall election process. There was also a recall for Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. She won her race, defeating Democrat Mahlon Mitchell, making her the first lieutenant governor to run in and survive a recall.
Stephanie Ann Klett is a broadcast personality who served as Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.
The 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018. It occurred concurrently with a Senate election in the state, elections to the state's U.S. House seats, and various other elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker sought re-election to a third term, and was challenged by Democratic candidate and then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, as well as Libertarian Phil Anderson and independent Maggie Turnbull. Evers, along with his running mate Mandela Barnes, managed to defeat Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch in a closely fought and widely watched race, ending unified Republican control of the state.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate from Wisconsin. The party primaries were held on August 9, 2022. Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson won re-election to a third term, defeating Democratic lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes by 26,718 votes — a one-point margin of victory.
The global COVID-19 pandemic struck the U.S. state of Wisconsin in early February 2020. Although Wisconsin has to date experienced 144 deaths per 100,000 residents, significantly fewer than the US national average of 196 deaths, COVID-19 was one of the three leading causes of death in Wisconsin in 2020. On August 25, 2021, Wisconsin public health authorities reported 7 day averages of 1,417 new cases and 236 probable cases per day, an increase of greater than 15 fold since late June 2021. This brings the cumulative total of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin to 651,338. The state's death toll is 7,558, with 30 new deaths over the previous 7 days. As of August 25, 2021, 12.41% of Wisconsin's residents have been positively diagnosed with COVID-19, the 20th highest per-capita case rate among all US states. January 16's 128 COVID-19 deaths set a new single day record for Wisconsin.
The 2024 Republican National Convention is an event in which delegates of the United States Republican Party will select the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2024 United States presidential election. It is scheduled to be held July 15 to 18, 2024, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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