The head of Discover Green Bay says local hotels are ready for next week’s influx of visitors for the NFL Draft, though he expects the event’s economic impact to be spread across much of the state.
Brad Toll, the tourism organization’s president and CEO, yesterday said local hotels are used to big crowds for Green Bay Packers home games. But next week’s event, kicking off a week from today, is expected to draw 250,000 visitors and has been described as the largest event the city has ever hosted.
“They’re prepared, certainly, we have a number of short-term rentals available,” Toll said in a recent interview on WisconsinEye. “But … it really is a drive event. People are accustomed to driving to it, 65% in other markets have driven in.”
Toll said he expects many visitors coming into Wisconsin to attend the draft will stay outside of the Green Bay area, where hotels “have some availability” but are nearing capacity.
“So we expect everywhere from Green Bay to Milwaukee, off toward Eau Claire and Wausau, people will see spending in hotels but certainly in gas stations, restaurants and attractions throughout our state,” he said. “Which really it is a state event in many ways, so it definitely will spread its wings throughout our state.”
As the event approaches, room prices in Green Bay have spiked, with one nearby hotel that typically rents rooms for about $80 per night jumping to about $1,600 for the night of the draft.
Still, Packers Director of Public Affairs Aaron Popkey said the team is encouraging visitors to check for home rental property openings in the area.
“But like a Packers game, our hotels eventually fill up, and then people go 30 miles out, 60 miles out, we fully expect that with this,” he said. “The Fox Valley, the lakeshore, heading west to Shawano and towards Wausau … and even Milwaukee, that is a drive that people make all the time to spend half the day or the evening.”
The Packers expect the event will have a $96 million impact in the state, including $20 million in the Green Bay area alone.
Toll says Green Bay’s efforts to land the draft began around 2015, when the NFL first began taking its draft event on the road to cities around the country.
“Really from the very beginning, when that opportunity came along, we knew this would be a great event for the Green Bay area, and for Packers fans, for football fans that have grown up with this in our blood here in Wisconsin,” he said. “It’s very exciting that next week it’s happening.”
See the full interview.
