Hot air balloons. Image courtesy: Steve and Nancy Woller.
WESTON, WI (WSAU) — The second annual Taste ‘n Glow Balloon Festival brought an estimated $5 million to the area last month, and those are just the conservative estimates.
Tim White of the Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention and Visitors Bureau released the numbers this week during a meeting of the Weston Tourism Commission this week. White says they were able to use several high-tech and traditional methods to track where visitors came from including interactions with digital ads, credit card data, and reports from hotel managers on where guests came from.
According to the CVB’s data, the event featured guests from 48 of 50 US states. Vermont and Wyoming were the only ones not represented. “It’s pretty impressive that people came from around the country to attend this event,” said White.
There was also a significant influx of people from other parts of Wisconsin that attended the event. White says that included Eau Claire, Green Bay, Madison, and the Fox Valley.
He adds there were a small number of attendees from Europe as well.
White adds that targeted marketing for the event in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas also proved effective. “It really increased the awareness and the attendance from those markets actually beat out the Twin Cities markets,” added White.
He also presented the committee with more detailed data including average spending per guest and per credit card transaction, even going so far as to say the guests from the Tampa, Florida seemed to be the ones spending the most money on the event.
Plans are underway for the 2023 Taste ‘n Glow Balloon Festival, which will be the 3rd annual. The event grew out of the former Balloon ‘n Rib Fest put on by Wausau Events, which was canceled during COVID-19.
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