Power of Tourism
May, 2019
The Power of Tourism to create a place where people want to visit, work and live by Christine Rebout
With an office on Main Street in downtown Janesville we have had a front row seat for the ARISE plan’s revitalization of Janesville’s downtown. The goal of
Mo o rsh a Ma re © ua Sq ne eT ow esv ill Jan
If we look around our community with open eyes and open minds, we can see the Janesville community truly is a place where people want to visit, live, work and play. The heart of Janesville is our acclaimed parks and trails systems, and the vast range of accessible outdoor activities that can take place year-round. These nature-based recreational activities make Janesville a compelling place for attracting both new residents and visitors. “Wisconsin’s Great Outside” encompasses the fun, excitement, enrichment, relaxation and success you find here in Janesville. Within minutes you can find outstanding hiking, biking, rollerblading, cross-country skiing, water-skiing, disc golf, softball, soccer, sledding, tennis, boating, and running opportunities. Families can explore Rotary Botanical Gardens with its special events, tours and classes or join a guided walking tour of our historical districts. You can experience our packed calendar of events where you can cheer at Freedom Fest, wander through the Farmers Market, celebrate the Rock County 4-H Fair, browse the downtown shops during a Wine Walk, admire the artwork at the Tallman Arts Festival, or take in a concert during Music at the Marv. Families can spend time together at the splash pad, learn new activities in the parks and along the trails, or watch a spectacular Rock Aqua Jays performance or breathtaking Janesville Jets game. Friends can gather for riverfront dining at the Bodacious Shops, cycling or walking along the Ice Age Trail, kayaking or disc golf. The possibilities for outdoor fun and activities in Janesville are endless.
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A wise colleague and friend, Maura Gast, said it best: “If you build a place where people want to visit, you’ll build a place where people want to live. And, if you build a place where people want to live, you’ll build a place where people have to work. If you build a place where people want to work, you’ll build a place where business wants to be. And, if you build a place where business wants to be, you’ll have built a place where people want to visit.” Maura’s words serve as a great summary of the role that tourism plays in the lives of a community’s residents and in the economic health and development of a community. It all starts with a visit to come and see what a community has to offer.
the current revitalization is to position downtown Janesville as a vibrant neighborhood where commerce, culture, entertainment, and history intersect and to align and focus resources in a way that draws a consistent and sustainable critical mass of people to the downtown, thereby encouraging diversity in downtown development, businesses, and activities and fostering private development. As communities now know, downtowns are the heart and soul of our communities and downtown development is a must for a healthy community.
Janesville’s Tourism Promise
For people seeking year-round outdoor activities and events in Southern Wisconsin, in a small-town atmosphere, Janesville provides the most easily accessible, diverse and rewarding opportunities, where visitors feel a sense of achievement, enrichment and escape. Janesville is all about year-round outdoor fun.
The Economics
Morning Rotary Pie Ride ©Nicodemas Nimmo
Inside...
Visitors to Janesville spent $145 million in 2018. Visitor spending impacts in Janesville generated another $78 million in business sales. Economic impact for traveler spending in the city supported 1,209 jobs. Rock County tourism generated $14 million in taxes and other fees for state and local government and total labor income was over $28.6 million in wages and salaries to Janesville residents.
Wisconsin's Great Outside Tourism by the Numbers Janesville's Tourism Experts
Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Show Team ©Rock Aqua Jays
Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
(800) 487-2757
janesvillecvb.com
Janesville Towne Square ©Marsha Mood
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Wisconsin’s Great Outside Janesville is known as "Wisconsin's Park Place." Its 2,590-acre park system includes 64 improved parks, as well as boat launches, golf courses, and nature trails. This is one of the highest acreages per capita in Wisconsin.
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Janesville features 30 miles of paved, off-road trails including the southern-most segment of Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail.
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Janesville has an internationally themed, awardwinning botanical garden, Rotary Botanical Gardens.
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The Rock Aqua Jays are the most successful waterski show team in the world with more than 60 tournament victories. The team regularly hosts the National Ski championships and has hosted two World Water Ski Show tournaments. Rock Aqua Jays perform twice-weekly water-ski shows on Sunday and Wednesday evenings from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. CAMDEN Playground is considered one of the world’s largest accessible/integrated playgrounds.
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Janesville has a nearly 500-acre greenbelt system to provide areas for surface water runoff and habitat for a diversity of plants and animals.
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Janesville is home to the Janesville Jets, an expansion team in the North American Hockey League, with games played at the Janesville Ice Arena. The Jets have been recipients of the All Midwest Division Team and Midwest Division Organization of the Year awards.
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The Rock County Historical Society is transforming the Lincoln-Tallman House Campus by augmenting existing historical sites and creating new campus elements.
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Redevelopment is under way of the Town Square along the Rock River, which will provide a pedestrian bridge, a Riverwalk, a Great Lawn gathering space and a festival street.
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Janesville has 36 miles of scenic river that runs through the community.
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Janesville’s 30 miles of paved trails connect many neighborhoods, parks and attractions. In the
winter, the trails, parks and greenbelt system are available for cross country skiing and snowshoeing.
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The Marvin W. Roth Community Pavilion (in 3 acre Courthouse Park) provides a covered stage area with amphitheater style seating for 300, plus open park space above for more seating for live music and other activities.
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Janesville’s outdoor art includes 10 murals, 9 public sculptures, 17 historical monuments and memorials and a time capsule.
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A walking tour of downtown Janesville includes hundreds of buildings of historical interest within 13 historic districts.
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The Janesville Performing Arts Center seats 633 patrons and is in the historic Janesville High School.
Rotary Botanical Gardens
Janesville Trail System at Rockport Park ©Nicodemas Nimmo
Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Historic Walking Tours
(800) 487-2757
janesvillecvb.com
Tourism by the Numbers Mission
Vision
The Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (JACVB) leads, supports and promotes the area’s tourism industry by marketing the region as a prime visitor destination, creating a positive economic impact for the community and enhancing the quality of life.
Janesville will be recognized as a destination in which visitors can easily experience a sense of achievement, enrichment and escape.
2018 A Year in Review •
Visitors to Janesville spent $145 million in 2018 – up 2.7%
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Visitor spending’s impacts in Janesville generated another $78 million in business sales as visitor activity supported $223 million in total business sales in 2018 as tourism dollars flowed through the economy
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Visitor activity sustained a total of 1,209 jobs, with income surpassing $28.6 million
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Including indirect and induced impacts, tourism in Janesville generated $14.1 million in state and local taxes last year
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Of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, Rock County’s ranked 12th for Visitor spending in 2018
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The JACVB provided direct services to 79 meetings/conferences, totaling 166,000 attendees and 13,800 room nights
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Economic impact from events serviced by the JACVB totaled over $10 million
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The JACVB Visitor Information Center saw 1, 290 total inquiries from 38 states and 5 counties
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The JACVB website had 280,000 pages views, 121,000 sessions and 89,000 users in 2018
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11,000 people currently follow the JACVB Facebook page
*Tourism in Rock County accounted for an average of 4,000 jobs each year for the past 10 years *The economic impact of groups JACVB worked with over the past 10 years totaled nearly $76 million
Visitor Spending in Rock County
Photo by Marsha Mood.
*Visitors to Rock County spent $4.5 billion in the last 20 years * Janesville collected $15.5 million in room tax in the last 20 years *The JACVB has given away over $240,000 in grants to local events and attractions since 2007
Rock County Jobs
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The Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (JACVB) serves as the area’s destination expert. We are a private, nonprofit Destination Marketing Organization, whose mission is to lead, support and promote tourism in the area by promoting Janesville, Wisconsin’s Great Outside as a prime destination for meetings and conventions, motorcoach and leisure travelers, thereby creating a positive economic impact on the community and enhancing the quality of life. We do this by working in the four basic areas of: meeting/ conference groups, motorcoach groups, sports groups and leisure travelers. The JACVB is funded by local hotel room tax and receives approximately 60% of the room tax collected by the City of Janesville with the remainder going into the city’s general fund.
We’re Here to Help You
Our expert staff is here to help you plan your next visit, group tour, meeting or conference event held in Janesville. We are happy to assist both visitors and residents alike. From planning a fun-filled itinerary that includes visiting area attractions and events to planning a reunion, wedding, club meeting, retreat or conference, we're here to help and our assistance is completely complementary! Our goal is simple: to provide you with the best experience possible. The JACVB is also a great resource for area event information and finding new ways to experience all our community has to offer.
Janesville's Tourism Experts
JACVB Board of Directors
Christine Rebout Executive Director
Susan Melton Marketing Director
As Executive Director of the Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau I work to promote Janesville as a tourism destination for leisure, group and business travelers. We have a staff of 6 and a group of 25 volunteers, and operate two facilities including a downtown office and Visitor Information Center off of Interstate I-90/39. Working with our Board of Directors and Tourism Partners, I oversee the JACVB’s main goal of driving travel to the Janesville area. Utilizing our annual budget of $800,000, we market to not only leisure travelers but also motorcoach, meeting and conferences and sports groups. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Upper Midwest CVB Association, working towards educational opportunities for travel and tourism professionals throughout the Midwest, and currently serve as Chair for the Wisconsin Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus.
As Marketing Director, I am responsible for implementing the overall advertising, branding and marketing strategies of the Janesville Area Convention & Visitor Bureau in the promotion of Janesville, Wisconsin’s Great Outside as a destination. In this role I oversee the advertising program, marketing projects, graphic design, communications including social media and public relations across all market segments. I also assist partner organizations with marketing, both individually and through the JACVB Tourism Grant Fund. You can follow my twitter updates at Twitter. You can also find the Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau on Facebook and Flickr.
Lori A. Johnson Director of Meeting & Group Sales
Sandi Walton Office Manager
As Director of Meeting & Group Sales, I'm responsible for marketing the Janesville community as a destination for meetings and conferences as well as sporting events and group tours. I represent the JACVB at a variety of tradeshows and to industry trade organizations. I’m eager to help you whether you’re bringing a meeting to Janesville, booking a group tour, or a Janesville resident looking to “Bring Your Meeting Home.” From planning detailed itineraries to fine tuning the behind the scenes details of your meeting, I’ll be with you every step of the way. I serve as a Forward Janesville ambassador and am a member of the Wisconsin Chapter of Meeting Planners International, Circle Wisconsin and the Religious Conference Management Association.
Come visit us in Janesville, Wisconsin’s Great Outside! Whether you walk into our office, our visitor center, or call 1 (800) 487-2757, as Office Manager and front line staff, I am here to offer you a smile and answer all of your questions. My work day might include greeting visitors and answering phones or managing databases and working with finances. The JACVB also operates the Visitor Information Center in Palmer Park - located just off I-90 at Exit 175. There, you will find an expansive brochure selection to assist with all your travel needs. Our volunteer staff is available to assist you seven days a week from 9 AM to 5 PM (mid-May through midSeptember).
Tim Cullen – Rock Aqua Jays Scott Skelly – Skelly’s Farm Market Nathan Burkart – Janesville Performing Arts Center Maggie Darr – City of Janesville Britten Langfoss – Downtown Janesville Inc. Carla Olson – Retired Karl Anderson – AmericInn Joan Neeno – Lark Mason Lyttle – Janesville Jets Teresa Nguyen - Rock County Historical Society Julie Cubbage – Janesville Mall Becky Kronberg - Rotary Botanical Gardens Jennifer Seibert – Hampton Inn
Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Main Office 20 S. Main Street, Ste. 11, Janesville, WI 53545 Open Monday through Friday, 8 AM - 5 PM (800) 487-2757 or (608) 757-3171
Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
janesvillecvb.com Visitor Information Center
(800) 487-2757
I-90 Exit 175, Palmer Park Open May 10 - September 15 7 Days a week, 9 AM - 5 PM
Ayanna Smith Communications Manager
janesvillecvb.com
As the Communications Manager I assist with developing and executing the JACVB communications strategy to generate broader awareness and engagement. My areas of work include social media, newsletters, blog, event promotion, media releases, graphic design and photography.