Explore Two Rivers’ board filled two open seats, committed $1,700 to a state marketing co-op, and flagged a soft year for room-tax revenue with events canceled and fewer Canadian visitors mentioned. The group also started talking about setting aside 2026 money for AI-based tourism marketing experiments.
Key Decisions
Board approved two new members (Lyssa Schmidt and Sherry Barbier), bringing the Explore Two Rivers board to 8 members — a basic governance move that affects who’s steering tourism spending and priorities.
Board committed $1,700 to the Travel Wisconsin Magazine marketing co-op ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline — a small but real spend decision tied to how Two Rivers markets itself to overnight visitors.
Treasurer report discussion pointed to room-tax revenue running about 8% behind and blamed likely hits from no Kitefest and a canceled Wayzgoose, plus an anecdotal drop in Canadian tourism — a warning sign for a tourism group funded by lodging activity.
Public Input
No public comments or communications recorded for this meeting.
Agenda Items
Open ETR Board Seats
Passed 7-0
The board voted to appoint Lyssa Schmidt and Sherry Barbier to fill open Explore Two Rivers board seats, and noted the board is now at 8 members. They also said the new director at Hamilton Wood Type & Print Museum is interested but not ready yet, and Woodland Dunes isn’t ready to name a staff member. This matters because board composition directly shapes what gets funded and promoted with tourism dollars.
The board accepted the treasurer’s report after discussing revenue running close to 2023 year-to-date but still down about 8%. Members raised concerns about data quality and comparability (occupancy reporting vs. revenue data) and said they’re checking with peer tourism groups and Manitowoc’s tourism director. They also tied expected revenue impacts to the lack of Kitefest and the canceled Wayzgoose, and discussed an RFP for 2026 logo-wear with a preference for local vendors.
The board reviewed how it plans to share business survey results through social media, the City/Explore websites, and local groups like TRBA and Rotary, plus school boards and local media. Metzen suggested adding a separate meeting to build a 2026 marketing roadmap so the group can align early on first-quarter spending. The follow-up meeting idea is the real takeaway here: it signals they’re trying to turn survey feedback into an actual spending plan, not just a report-out.
The board got an IT/AI update and discussed creating a 2026 budget line item for AI experiments aimed at improving tourism marketing. This is early-stage, but it’s a clear signal they may start dedicating public tourism dollars to new tech tools — something residents should expect to see show up in next year’s budget choices and performance claims.
Travel Wisconsin Marketing Co-op ($1,700) – Deadline Oct 15
Passed
The board voted to commit $1,700 to the Travel Wisconsin Magazine co-op program. With a deadline the next day, this was a time-sensitive marketing spend decision. The minutes don’t spell out expected returns (reach, targeting, or how success will be measured), which is the kind of detail that matters when room-tax revenue is already trending down.
There was no tourism director report this month. For a group tracking revenue softness and planning 2026 marketing, the lack of a monthly report leaves residents without basic visibility into what work is being done, what’s changing, and what results are being tracked.