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Fox Cities CVB highlights tourism impact and room-tax funded projects to Neenah council
Summary
Pam Bridal, executive director of the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, briefed the Neenah Common Council on May 7 about the bureau's funding model, grant investments and 2023 economic impact in the Fox Cities; the council received and placed the presentation on file by unanimous vote.
Pam Bridal, executive director of the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the Neenah Common Council on May 7 that the bureau is funded solely by the hotel-motel room tax and that it uses a portion of those funds for tourism development grants that have reinvested more than $12 million back into Fox Cities communities.
Bridal said the tourism zone room tax rate is 10 percent and described how that revenue is allocated: 2.85 percentage points fund the CVB’s operations, around 3 points service bonds for the Community First Champion Center in Grand Chute, another 3 points service bonds for the Fox Cities Exhibition Center in Appleton, and municipalities retain a little over 1 percent where the tax is generated. "Our mission really is simple. We strengthen the Fox Cities by investing in promoting our community," Bridal said.
Bridal described tourism activity for 2023: visitors directly spent $571 million and total economic impact was approximately $748 million, supporting about 6,700 jobs and generating roughly $64 million in state and local tax revenue. She said 2024 visitor data were not yet available but should be released to the bureau in early June.
She highlighted two major projects funded through room-tax bonds and grants: the Community First Champion Center and the Fox Cities Exhibition Center. Bridal said the Champion Center hosted 74 tournaments in 2024 that generated more than $6.2 million in direct visitor spending and served over 48,000 athletes and 82,000 spectators. She also cited a 2023 household tax-replacement calculation her office uses to illustrate scale: "Each household in the Fox Cities would need to be taxed an additional $856 per year to replace the sales and other local taxes generated by tourists," Bridal said.
The council voted to receive and place the presentation on file by unanimous consent. Motion to receive and place on file: mover Alderman Lundrum; second Alderman Bruno; outcome: passed 9–0.
