GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – It’s been about a year since most major events were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But travel is starting to trend back up.
On March 11th of 2020, 87-percent of travelers had plans within the next 6 months. Many of those plans were soon foiled by the emergence of the global pandemic.
“The next week it dropped to 72-percent, and then we bounced around the in the fifties and the sixties until the beginning part of February, when it went to 81-percent,” said Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau President, Brad Toll. “It’s been about a year, and we’re finally coming back up in the interest of traveling again…It’s finally starting to seem like things have a chance at getting back to normal again.”
That dropoff had a significant economic impact on the Green Bay area, especially when it comes to tourism and travel dollars. Many businesses still have people working from home, which means sending them on out-of-town business trips is much less likely than usual.
“In the meetings area for the Green Bay area, we figure about $100 million was lost in economic impact,” Toll said. “We know from the Packers season, that’s about a $15 million impact per game. We lost ten of those, so $150 million from that.”
Toll estimates the impact will approximately halve the typical yearly income for the area. But the full scope of the damage likely won’t be known for sure until the annual economic impact survey is released in May.
Even with the unprecedented financial gaps, Toll says there is still some optimism in the industry.
“It’s been devastating. I just saw last week that the national unemployment rate for the tourism industry is 23-percent yet,” Toll said. “Maybe there’s a light on the horizon. We’ve got a long way to go to recover, but the year after this nightmare began there are signs that maybe the travel industry is starting to turn a corner.”
The Greater Green Bay CVB didn’t totally shut down either, they simply found new ways to attract potential conventions for future dates.
“Really never stopped marketing. We wanted to change our messaging into more of a plan now and travel later, or plan now and meet later,” Toll said.
Toll thinks the big conventions are likely still a year or so off, which seems to make sense when meeting with those planning the events.
“This year is still going to be a pretty tough year when it comes to meetings and conventions, anything of any size. Most are looking at 2022 because that feels more solid in regards to the events actually happening,” Toll explained. “A lot of people were very hesitant until they knew they could hold the event. They didn’t want to move it 3-4 months down the road and then have to do it again.”
And while the business travel is still lagging, the personal trips seem to have been picking up that slack.
“We’re also seeing that probably within 250 miles is the typical trip right now. Still a little bit reserved, but certainly there’s desire to get out there and get moving again,” Toll said.
Surveys are also showing the biggest factors drawing people back to travel and tourism, and largest factor: COVID-19 vaccines.
“People are developing more and more confidence every day. As more people get vaccinated, I think they figure the spread is going to continue to slow down. That’s providing some of that confidence that’s getting people traveling,” Toll told WTAQ News.
The newly-opened $93-million Resch Expo hosted its first major event, the Green Bay Boat Show, last month. The Green Bay Home and Lifestyles Experience will be held there from March 19-21, while the Green Bay Pet Expo is set to be held April 30-May 2. More events scheduled for the Resch Expo and Resch Center can be found here.
For virtual tours of different meeting facilities and options on how to book them, head to the Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau website.
