PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — Port Washington is gearing up for what's expected to be its busiest summer for tourism since the pandemic began. There is a new effort underway to keep those visitors coming back — with the help of a little technology.
If you take a trip to Port Washington this summer you might spot QR codes dotting the harbor town. Guests will find one inside a charming Airbnb — that used to be a dental office.
"This side of the house was built in 1865, this side was built in 1900," said owner Dave Hall as he described the work that went into renovating the two-unit rental.
The bones may be old, but Hall's Airbnb is one of the newest places to stay in Port Washington.
"Really, we have two downtown hotels" explained Wayne Chrusciel, the Executive Director of the Port Washington Tourism Council "One with about 90 rooms and the other one with only about 10 rooms — so we need the capacity."
Tourism leaders say COVID drew outdoor lovers to the town of 12,000.
"They biked, they hiked, they did a lot of outdoor activities where they could be isolated from other people," recalled Chrusciel.
And over the course of the pandemic, entrepreneurs opened up Airbnbs, creating more places for visitors to stay.
"In 2019, we really had no room tax revenue income from Airbnbs, mainly because we had none — now this year it's about 20% of our revenue," added Chrusciel.
And that hotel Chrusciel was talking about, The Harborview, just spent more than $2.5 million to remodel guest rooms.
"We are anticipating a very busy summer — our bookings have been exploding," said owner Eric Lund.
Lund says more visitors will equal more growth.
"It brings in room tax, it brings in sales tax — we're giving a lot of full-time employment to a lot of people."
That's why the hotel will also display QR codes, which all link back to a survey.
"The goal is to be able to find out — where are people coming from? What brought them here? What was the attraction? What do they plan to do while they're here? And then what can we do in the future to make their visit even better?" explained Chrusciel.
Visitors who fill out the survey will get a gift — a commemorative Port Washington magnet. Tourism leaders expect that by the end of the summer, they'll have gathered enough data to help entice those visitors to return again and again.
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