VISIT Milwaukee Invites Public to Help Bring $350,00 to Local Economy

Milwaukee has been selected as one of 13 destinations vying to host the Social Media Tourism Symposium (SoMeT), a national convention that could bring 300 influential social media managers to the city, pumping $350,000 into the local economy.

SoMeT is a combination of travel, tourism, hospitality and meeting industry professionals sharing ideas and learning about how social media is affecting the tourism industry.

The process to secure this particular convention business is unconventional. While the typical booking process happens behind closed doors in a series of meetings, the organizers of SoMeT ask destinations themselves to determine the location of the convention via votes earned on social media. The voting begins today, March 13 at 11 a.m. and continues for 48 hours.

Milwaukee competed to host SoMeT in 2012 and handily beat Lehigh Valley, Pa. St. Louis, Mo. and Pocono Mountains, Pa. during the voting process. El Paso, Texas was chosen as the destination of the meeting as they secured more votes and impressions in the contest overall. In 2012, the voting process created more than 3 million impressions. More than 300,000 impressions were a result of efforts by VISIT Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Art Museum and AJ Bombers alone.

VOTING DETAILS: Beginning Wednesday, March 13 at 11 a.m., for 48 hours, the vote will take place on Facebook. A direct link to voting will be posted on VISIT Milwaukee’s Facebook page when the link goes live. Users can vote once per day, per Facebook account. The eight destinations with the most votes will advance to further rounds of one-on-one voting matchups until the winning destination is selected.

VISIT Milwaukee markets Greater Milwaukee to tourists, and convention and meeting planners, both nationally and internationally. VISIT Milwaukee has approximately 600 members, including hotels/motels, restaurants, attractions, services and area businesses. Tourism generated $2.36 billion in spending in Greater Milwaukee in 2011 and supported more than 47,000 local jobs. The City of Wauwatosa, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Potawatomi Bingo Casino and the Wisconsin Center District are strategic partners with VISIT Milwaukee, providing funding support for conventions and tourism programs.  For more information call 1-800-554-1448 or visit twww.visitmilwaukee.org.

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