EXCEEDING YOUR EXPECTATIONS
There are 3 million reasons why Brookfield is the place to shop, play, dine and stay in southeastern Wisconsin; one for every square foot of retail shopping. And one reason for each of our 157 restaurants. Plus one for every one of Brookfield’s 15 hotels. And we haven’t even started talking about the 2 regional malls that bookend Bluemound Rd., or the 32 shopping malls scattered in between.
Exceeding expectations is what we do every day. There is not another spot in the state that offers more market firsts than Brookfield. Consider retailers like Von Maur, Kendra Scott, LL Bean, Arhaus, Scout and Molly, and Twigs; restaurants like Uncle Julio’s, Mission BBQ, Goddess and the Baker, and Grimaldi’s Pizza; entertainment options like Whirlyball, Tavern Theater, Silverspot and more. You won’t find them anywhere but here. And you know what else you’ll find here because of all those firsts? Positive economic impact. Let’s break it down… 2018 direct visitor spending in Brookfield was $321.3 million. This is an increase of 4.3% over 2017 and makes up 39% of Waukesha County’s total tourism income. It places Waukesha County in the top 4 for visitor spend in the state ahead of both Brown County and Door County. Brookfield itself makes up for 2.41% of the overall direct tourism spending in Wisconsin. The net effect of this spending is equivalent to handing out a dollar bill to every person in America. Visit Brookfield focuses on 4 key areas of promotion- shop, play, dine, and stay. Retail makes up 27.9% of total visitor spending, or
$89.7 million. Dining comes in a close second at 26.2% and $84.2 million. Lodging brings in 24.1% of visitor spending which translates to $77.5 million. Recreation accounts for 13.4% and $43 million. The remainder is made up of transportation spend at 8.4% or $26.9 million. Each area posted growth in year over year spending. It should be noted that this visitor spend activity sustains a total of nearly 4,200 hospitality jobs in Brookfield. Spending occurs on a bell-shaped curve, with Q3 consistently showing the largest financial gain. In 2018, $62.4 million was spent in Q1, (a .34% increase over 2017), $85.6 million in Q2, (a 1.84% gain over 2017), an impressive $98.7 million in Q3, (plus 6.30% over 2017) and $74.6 in Q4 (an 8.24% increase over 2017). It can be argued that the strong spend in Q3 corresponds to back to school and pre-holiday shopping, but it is interesting to note that the largest percentage increase occurred in Q4. State wide tourism spends follow similar patterns regardless of location. It’s easy to think of areas like Door County and the Dells when talking tourism. But tourism is not just kayaking, cherry picking and water parks. Sometimes tourism means staying overnight after a baseball game, spending a girls’ weekend shopping and spa-ing (we just made up that word) or driving out of your home territory for great table-side guacamole. The look of tourism is changing, and it’s a change that looks great for Brookfield. Come shop, play, dine and stay. Let us exceed your expectations.
SHOP ■ PLAY ■ DINE ■ STAY Request a FREE Visitors Guide and Coupon Book
800-388-1835 • www.visitbrookfield.com