RNC led to favorable impressions of city during event, says Visit Milwaukee CEO

The CEO of Milwaukee’s tourism bureau believes the impact of the Republican National Convention goes beyond dollars and cents, even as several businesses said the week of the event was a bust. 

The RNC brought thousands of visitors to the city from July 15-18. But many of the delegates, politicians and media who were in town remained close to the convention, and some Milwaukee businesses saw a decline in sales.

Before the event, supporters cited an estimated $200 million in economic benefits to the city.

Peggy Williams-Smith, CEO of Visit Milwaukee, has also cited that figure. On Monday, she appeared before the city’s steering and rules committee to discuss some of the impacts of the convention.

“I know that not every business in Milwaukee saw the benefits from this convention. And while I am sorry about that, we know that the impact that I’m going to share with you goes beyond economics and will help to put our city in the spotlight for years,” Williams-Smith said. 

According to Visit Milwaukee, there were over 600,000 mentions in the media of Milwaukee and the RNC from July 2022 through this week. Williams-Smith said she believed reporters from around the world discussed the city in a positive light.

“I think that that’s invaluable coverage that we just had never seen before,” she said.

According to the presentation Monday, more than 50 local businesses participated in “Convention Fest” during the week of the event. There was a 258 percent increase in pageviews on the Visit Milwaukee website from July 2019 compared to July 2024.

“So people were looking at Milwaukee during this timeframe,” Williams-Smith said during the meeting. 

A report detailing the economic impact of the convention is currently being prepared by Oxford Economics. That report should be made public before the end of the year.

Milwaukee Alder Milele Coggs is eagerly anticipating its results.

“Anecdotally, what I’ve heard from so many business owners I represent is they didn’t really see the benefits that were thought or expected to come from it (RNC),” Coggs said Monday. 

Milwaukee was also selected to host the Democratic National Convention in 2020. But that event was mostly remote because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Williams-Smith said the city is poised to host larger events because Milwaukee won the bid to host the RNC. But Coggs wants to make sure all businesses reap the benefits of those future events. 

“Maybe for the future, it’s lessons we can learn from this situation (RNC) to do better in how we communicate with and make sure that more businesses benefit for future large scale conventions that we have,” Coggs said. 

Some Milwaukee residents stayed clear of downtown Milwaukee and other neighborhoods while the event was underway. At least one restaurateur even closed his doors due to the lack of business. 

Cameryne Roberts, owner of LuLu Cafe and Bar in the city’s Bay View neighborhood, emailed the committee with her take on the event. 

“For what it’s worth, the RNC was a complete bust for us and most of the other Bay View business owners I spoke with, not to mention those in other parts of town too,” Roberts wrote. “Let’s not do that  again, please.”

According to Visit Milwaukee, hotel revenue did increase during the RNC, with hotels in Milwaukee County bringing in $30.5 million from July 14-20, 2024, compared to $10.4 million from that same seven-day period in 2023.