Milwaukee Hospitality is not Missing its Shot

MILWAUKEE – (April 30, 2021) – VISIT Milwaukee wants to give the local tourism economy a shot in the arm by encouraging the Milwaukee hospitality community to get shots in their arms. By hosting Hospitality Vaccination Days at the Wisconsin Center on May 7 and May 28, the destination marketing organization hopes that hospitality workers will get vaccinated so Milwaukee tourism can get back to business.

“The faster our community reaches herd immunity; the faster leisure and business travel to the Greater Milwaukee area will resume,” said Peggy Williams-Smith, president and CEO of VISIT Milwaukee. “We are encouraging Milwaukee’s hospitality workers to get Milwaukee closer to community immunity by getting their COVID-19 vaccine. “VISIT Milwaukee is proud to offer that opportunity – and a few incentives to hospitality workers for doing so – with the first dose being administered during National Travel and Tourism Week.”

National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) is the U.S. Travel Association’s annual celebration of travel’s positive impact on our economy, businesses, and personal well-being. Taking place May 2-8, the NTTW 2021 theme is “Power of Travel” and focuses on the travel and tourism industry’s role in bringing back the nation’s vibrant communities, restoring the U.S. economy, rebuilding the hospitality workforce, and reconnecting America.

“Our comeback as a community and as a local economy hinges on visitors being able to safely gather in Milwaukee’s attractions, event spaces, hotels, restaurants, and bars,” Williams-Smith said. “We know from research that travelers not only want to visit destinations that have strong COVID-19 protocols in place, but also want to visit destinations where vaccination rates are high. Who better to lead the vaccination charge in our community than the hospitality workers interacting with our travelers every day.”

In 2019, tourism in the Greater Milwaukee area supported over 53,200 full-time jobs and brought nearly $6 billion to the local community. The data for 2020 will, of course, offer a much more devastating picture, one that illustrates all that is lost when travel comes to a halt.

“We are bracing for a significant decrease in our area’s tourism economic impact numbers due to the 2020 pandemic, but we are also striving towards a strong rebound for 2021 and beyond,” Williams-Smith said.

VisitMilwauke.org has a plethora of information for visitors on Traveling Safely to Milwaukee as well as for planners and attendees on Meeting Confidently in Milwaukee.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.