ATTN: News and Business Editors

2005 Fox Cities Tourism Award Winners Named
Presentations made at the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Annual Tourism Breakfast

(Fox Cities, WI) – The Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau named recipients of the Fox Cities Tourism Awards this morning during its annual Tourism Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Neenah Riverwalk in Neenah. Al Schaefer, Community Development Director for the Village of Kimberly and a Bureau board member, presented the awards.

“These award winners represent the many entities in the Fox Cities that work with the Convention & Visitors Bureau to ensure a healthy tourism economy,” said Lynn Peters, Bureau executive director. “When a group chooses to come to the Fox Cities many times things like media coverage, a pedestrian friendly downtown and local volunteers are factors in their decision,” continued Peters.

Dick Staedt and the Fox Valleyaires who brought the Land O’ Lakes Barbershop District Convention to the Fox Cities was presented with the Convention Award. This award recognizes a person or group who helps the Bureau increase the number of conventions held in the Fox Cities. The 2004 Land O’Lakes Barbershop District Convention had 1,200 attendees generating 828 roomnights and an economic impact of $161,000. The convention filled the host hotel and had overflow rooms at six additional properties.
Two Sports Awards were given, one to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship and the other to the Cheesehead Wrestling Invitational.
The NCAA Division III Baseball Championship has been in the Fox Cities since 2000. In 2004 the event broke previous records for number of roomnights booked, a 36% increase over the previous year. Ticket sales were the second highest in the history of the event.
The Cheesehead Wrestling Invitational is a great example of how a “homegrown” tournament can become well known throughout the Midwest. The Cheesehead brings teams from throughout the Midwest, as well as some of the top teams from Wisconsin. They make sure to come to this tournament because they know it’s well run and there’ll be good competition. The event began in 2000 and has generated 200-250 roomnights per year.
The Post-Crescent was recognized for its coverage of the NCAA Division III Championship. The extensive coverage the event received was one of the reasons organizers decided to return to the Fox Cities for another two years. From the very beginning, the Post-Crescent has been an active partner in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships with staff assisting in the bid process.
Char Stankowski, general manager of the Wingate Inn of Appleton, was honored with the Volunteer Award recognizing a person who has significantly enhanced the Bureau through their volunteer efforts. Stankowski is the out-going Bureau board chair and has been in the Fox Cities lodging industry for more than 20 years. Stankowski helped hire the Bureau’s first executive director in 1986, served on its first board, and has been involved with the Bureau ever since.
Downtown Appleton was named in a special Destination Builder award. The award was presented jointly to the City of Appleton and Appleton Downtown Incorporated (ADI).

“The results of our recent tourism assessment identified Downtown Appleton as one of the three key attractions in the Fox Cities, and described it as ‘a case study in how to do it right’.” commented Peters. “The efforts of the City and ADI to improve the quality of the downtown experience have made Downtown Appleton a destination for locals and visitors, including many convention planners who appreciate the ‘walkability’ of the area.

Tourism had an estimated $325 million impact on the Fox Cities in 2003 and tourist dollars directly and indirectly created nearly 9,000 full-time job equivalents and $182.69 million in resident income.

[END]

The Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau is a private, not-for-profit corporation working to develop an economically viable convention and visitor business in the Fox Cities. This is accomplished by attracting meetings, conventions and tournaments to the community and promoting area attractions and special events to tourists and other visitors.