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Walworth County tourism efforts pay off with state grants

WALWORTH COUNTY — The Walworth County Visitors Bureau spent the past 18 months trying to reinvent itself and its message during a continuing sluggish economy.

On Jan. 23, the organization and its supporters celebrated accomplishing exactly that, and they received a welcome pat on the back from two of the state’s tourism power brokers.

(Read all of this week's stories from Walworth County Sunday HERE.)

Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett and Deputy Secretary David Fantle presented the WCVB with a $77,550 check during a ceremony at Grand Geneva Resort and Spa’s Mountain Top in Lake Geneva.

Kathleen Seeberg, executive director of the visitors bureau, said the painstaking effort paid off in the end, and the grant award was a well-deserved blessing.

“This process all started back in late summer of 2010 with the branding issue,” Seeberg said. “We did surveys and a lot of research to figure out just what is our brand, what is Walworth County? We wanted to be creative, and we developed our new logo, tagline and everything, and that became part of the first stage of the grant process.

“We got approval from all of our stakeholders in the county, all of the local chambers and anybody involved with tourism, and presented it to the state early in 2011,” Seeberg added. “So the second part was our increased marketing capabilities using the new brand and logo, which then helped us evolve into our Snow Much Fun campaign.

“One of our slowest times is January through March, so we focused our efforts on that time period starting in late summer or early fall last year and presented our preliminary concepts as part of the grant process,” Seeberg said.

The Wisconsin Department of Tourism’s total funding came in two parts through its Joint Effort Marketing and Destination Marketing grant programs. The check is basically a reimbursement, because the visitors bureau needed to match any prospective grant monies by raising money and/or in-kind contributions.

The Year 1 grant partially funded the development of a brand for Walworth County. The research phase was completed in 2010, and the development of the brand was finished in 2011, with the creation of the new tourism logo and the tagline “Naturally Fun.”

The Year 2 grant is being used to implement the Snow Much Fun campaign, a branded marketing effort promoting winter tourism. The Snow Much Fun campaign runs through March and includes a variety of media promotions, including print, online and radio advertising.

Klett, a Beloit native, said that she and her colleagues at the state level were impressed with Walworth County’s strategies, and thus, providing the funding was a no-brainer.

“It’s all about branding and identification, because if you don’t come up with something, someone else will grab it,” Klett said of the “Naturally Fun” idea. “Walworth County has such diversity, but the word ‘fun’ works so well with tourism and that is people’s No. 1 travel motivation. And that’s what we’re doing at the state level.

“Going through the grant request process is a lot like getting a root canal, but it was so easy to see that they had a winner,” Klett said. “And the fact that they’re really going after a larger market with the Snow Much Fun campaign was impressive, because winter is fourth for revenue out of the four seasons. So them pushing their tourism this time of year, something that you would normally see in the Northwoods, is a huge step.”

Klett said that tourists think regionally, and the visitors bureau’s approach of getting so many stakeholders and communities on board helped get the grant, and will help bring people to the area.

“To get so many communities to partner and work together is a huge step,” Klett said. “Kudos to Kathy. I believe they hit the jackpot.”

Seeberg said it was a team effort.

“Now that this process is over, it’s a relief,” Seeberg said. “It’s a comfort to know that we have a cohesive plan in place and that everything we put out there looks and feels the same, and that our message is the same.”

A special coupon book containing discounts on venue admissions, lodging, restaurants and more will be available to area visitors as part of the promotion. Respondents to the offer will be included in a weekly drawing for a Walworth County activity.

“The response to what we’ve done has been fabulous so far,” Seeberg said. “We’re very pleased to be doing things we’ve always wanted to but didn’t have the funds. We’re doing a lot of things through social media, especially Facebook and Twitter. We’re finalizing efforts so our website goes mobile for folks with smartphones, and we’re finalizing our new coupon books with hopes that they give people more reasons to come and hopefully shop and spend money while enjoying Walworth County.”

Contact the visitors bureau to receive a free coupon book and be included in the drawing. For a complete listing of winter activities, places to stay, attractions, dining and shopping opportunities, go to www.VisitWalworthCounty.com, call (800) 395-8687 or (262) 723-3980, or email to SnowMuchFun@VisitWalworthCounty.com.