Green Bay, Wis – Discover Green Bay held its annual Fall Tourism Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, October 20 at the The Marq Banquet and Catering in De Pere.
Discover Green Bay President and CEO, Brad Toll provided an update on Green Bay’s tourism industry to event attendees.
Toll shared that the year-to-date hotel occupancy in Green Bay is at just more than 50 percent through September, up from 27 percent in 2020. He also shared that renewed demand for in-person events, sports, meetings, tours and conferences is expected to grow into 2022.
Anne Sayers, Secretary-designee at Travel Wisconsin, also presented to the group of hospitality industry guests. Sayers shared various ways the state is supporting tourism and their plan to continue to grow Wisconsin tourism in years to come.
During the awards ceremony Toll and Discover Green Bay’s board chair Steve Ninham, General Manager of the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center presented the 2021 Tim Quigley Tourism Person of the Year, Tourism Partner of the Year and Event of the Year.
2021 award recipients include:
Event of the Year: Wisconsin Amusement & Music Operators (WAMO) Dart Tournament
The Resch Expo was a long-anticipated addition for the Green Bay community. We eagerly looked forward to the first event that would be held in this impressive new building. A long-standing event, the WAMO Dart Tournament, was one of the first major events to be held at the Resch Expo.
The 2021 tournament welcomed more than 3,800 individuals participating in over 11,000 events over four days of competition. The economic impact of this impressive event exceeded $3 million and accounted for 6,000 hotel room nights.
Tourism Partner of the Year: Green Bay Packers
Empty bleachers and quiet parking lots on fall Sundays are a thing of the past. The Green Bay Packers have welcomed back fans to Lambeau Field in 2021 and are a major contributor to the area’s tourism industry.
The Packers have always been an impactful force for tourism in Green Bay. But their impact goes far beyond the enormous impacts of game days and training camp. In 2021 the Green Bay Packers organization supported the tourism industry in many ways. The organization hosted the Ryder Cup Media Reception for more than one hundred national and international reporters providing an experience that was shared on various social media platforms. The Packers also have been an integral
Partner in hosting airline network planners, supporting sports promotions and showcasing Lambeau Field to meeting planners during familiarization tours.
This is the second time the Green Bay Packers have been awarded the Tourism Partner of the Year; their first award was in 2003.
Tim Quigley Tourism Award: Don Chilson
As our world was devastated by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Don rallied his staff to ensure the Cornerstone Community Center was fully prepared to welcome guests back to the Green Bay Area when things were safe to do so.
With varying protocols and restrictions across the state and country, many events were required to cancel or look for alternate options. Don went above-and-beyond to bring those displaced events to Green Bay. He worked with the proper local channels to implement strict health and safety measures to ensure the well-being of all those participating. By providing a safe place for these competitions to be held, Don helped bring the excitement of competition back to Green Bay, which in turn brought hotel room nights and visitor dollars to the area during a devastating time never seen before in our lifetime.