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City of Evansville seeking visitor feedback

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

A new tourism committee is exploring options for marketing Evansville and its downtown shopping district.

EVANSVILLE — Evansville leaders are hoping a survey will help them learn what impression the city leaves on visitors.

The survey is one of the initiatives from a new tourism subcommittee.

The action comes as the city faces a decision on whether to continue working with Discovery Mediaworks, most known for its Discover Wisconsin TV show. The third and final airing of the episode featuring Evansville is Jan. 14.

The city's three-year contract with the company expires in June, Mayor Sandy Decker said.

The tourism subcommittee formed out of the economic development committee to focus on how the city should proceed, she said.

"It was a matter of trying to organize and categorize—how can we best leverage what we've done so far," she said.

Rock County attracts more than $200 million annually in tourism spending, a number that jumped out to local residents, she said.

"We're looking at Discover Wisconsin and our attempts of how to grow beyond that. How can we capture additional dollars?" she said. "We're just trying to organize ourselves."

The city has been working with state Department of Tourism officials, who suggested the city complete a four-step tourism assessment program.

The assessment is underway, and it includes surveys of residents and visitors. The committee has received enough resident surveys, but is still seeking more visitors to complete the survey.

Decker said the three-year, $36,000 contract with Discovery Mediaworks was "absolutely" worth it. Visitors have cited the TV show as a reason for their visit, and the city has seen an uptick in inquiries after the promotions.

Some communities start a new three-year contract and produce a new show, others maintain more of a web presence while some communities work collaboratively with other cities on a marketing effort, she said.

The tourism committee will make a recommendation to the economic development committee, which forwards it to the city council.

Tourism committee members have been talking about how to collaborate with other communities, she said. Ecotourism and agritourism are two hot areas, and Evansville is well known around the state for its spring Energy Fair, she said.

For example, a statewide meeting for communities focused on energy efficient projects will be held in Evansville the afternoon of the Energy Fair.

Because Evansville has the second-oldest historic district in the state, one idea is to partner with Mineral Point, which has the oldest district, and promote a bus tour together, Decker said.

The city also has new meeting space at the new Creekside Place, which officials hope to build into their tourism efforts. A new online calendar featuring community-wide events also was launched at evansville-wisconsin.com.