Verona Chamber and Visit Verona highlight events, tourism funding and $45 million estimated visitor impact
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Summary
Verona Area Chamber executive director Leigh Jordan and Visit Verona tourism coordinator Allison Plummer summarized the chamber’s events, the Visit Verona budget split under hotel room tax rules and tourism’s estimated economic impact of roughly $45 million in 2024.
Leigh Jordan, executive director of the Verona Area Chamber of Commerce, and Allison Plummer, Verona’s tourism coordinator, told attendees the chamber runs more than 50 community events a year and that Visit Verona uses hotel room tax revenue under state guidelines to market the city and support events.
Plummer said hotel lodging tax revenue is collected by local hotels, that the city retains 30% of the room-tax receipts and the remaining 70% is regulated for tourism marketing purposes. Of the regulated portion, she said Visit Verona allocates 17% to Destination Madison and the Madison Area Sports Commission and uses about 74% for Visit Verona’s own destination marketing, reserve funds and sponsorships.
The nut graf: Chamber and Visit Verona leaders framed tourism and events as a driver of overnight stays and local spending; Plummer said Visit Verona’s partners and sports events have helped attract visitors and that the organization estimates a 2024 visitor impact of more than $45 million.
Plummer described Visit Verona’s work on signature stories, partnerships (including a regional Sugar River Valley co-op), digital content, print visitor guides and sponsorships that supported 40–60 events in 2024. She said Visit Verona tracked more than 11,000 visitors and over 25,000 visitor-nights in 2024 and that average stay was a little over two nights. Plummer named top origin markets as Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee and said travel events such as statewide swim championships and the Dairyland Games brought measurable spikes in hotel nights.
Jordan described the chamber’s calendar of family-friendly events — Hometown Days, Egg Extravaganza, Fall Fest (named a top-10 U.S. fall festival in 2024), tree lighting and a new ice rink at Century School Park — and credited local business sponsorships for keeping most events free to residents. Jordan opened with an ice-breaker about Wisconsin weather and thanked community partners, churches and volunteers for hosting events.
Plummer made printed visitor guides and registration information available and encouraged businesses and event organizers to contact Visit Verona for sponsorship and visitor services. Both presenters urged attendees to use Visit Verona’s web resources and provide feedback to shape future marketing and event support.
