Published on Tuesday, March 13, 2001
© 2001 Madison Newspapers, Inc.

Byline: By Mike Ivey The Capital Times
Reprinted by permission

The head of the nation's largest travel association had one clear message today for the Wisconsin tourism industry: Think globally and act digitally.

"International visitors represent the single greatest untapped market for the travel industry," said William Norman, president and CEO of the Travel Industry of America.

As more than 1,000 attendees settled in at Monona Terrace for the start of the two-day 2001 Governor's Conference on Tourism, Norman urged Wisconsin to reach beyond its borders for new sources of travel business.

Foreign travelers are especially attractive because they spend three to four times as much as domestic travelers, he said. While international visitors made up just 5 percent of tourists in the United States last year, they accounted for nearly 20 percent of the $104 billion spent on travel.

Canada and Mexico are especially large and growing markets, Norman said. More than 70 percent of Canadians who traveled outside their home country last year visited the United States."That's a number that Wisconsin cannot ignore," he said.

There is certainly room for growth in the number of foreign visitors to Wisconsin.

International travelers represented just 3 percent of the 32 million visitors to the state last year, said Krista Elias of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. That includes about 2 percent Canadian, with the United Kingdom and Germany accounting for most of the rest.

The state travel industry generated about $8.7 billion in revenues in 1999, up 8 percent from the previous year. Foreign visitors spent $305 million in 1994, according to the latest figures available, or roughly 3.5 percent of the total.

Meanwhile, tourists in Wisconsin spent about $9.7 billion last year, up nearly 10 percent from 1999, partly because of good weather, high gas prices and stepped-up marketing efforts, according to a report from a Maine research firm.

The summer months attracted the bulk of tourist spending with May through August bringing in $4.8 billion, which is a 10.1 percent increase over 1999. Winter and spring -- December through April-- brought in $2.9 billion, a 9.3 percent increase. During fall -- September through November-- tourists spent $2.3 billion, which is a 9.7 percent increase. Over the last five years, spending has increased 49 percent, according to tourism statistics.