Religious tourism benefiting hotels in Green Bay, WI
GREEN BAY PRESS GAZZETTE
March 6, 2011
WISCONSIN--The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay announced Dec. 8 that Our Lady of Good Help shrine had been officially sanctioned as a place where the Virgin Mary appeared in the 19th century. The designation puts it in the same category as other famous Marian sites, such as Lourdes, France; Guadalupe, Mexico; and Fatima, Portugal. It is the only Marian site in the United States, which gives it a pretty good potential market share. Brad Toll, president and CEO of the Greater Green Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Marian shrines around the world draw an average 12 million visitors a year. Shrine representatives said at the end of December that they already were 50 times busier than normal for the month, which is a lot for them, but only a foreshadowing of what is possible. "For certain days, hotels are seeing huge boosts already in reservations, such as for the Day of Ascension. The potential is something we've not seen in this area for tourism," he said Wednesday during a Brown County Room Tax Commission meeting. [link]
March 6, 2011
WISCONSIN--The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay announced Dec. 8 that Our Lady of Good Help shrine had been officially sanctioned as a place where the Virgin Mary appeared in the 19th century. The designation puts it in the same category as other famous Marian sites, such as Lourdes, France; Guadalupe, Mexico; and Fatima, Portugal. It is the only Marian site in the United States, which gives it a pretty good potential market share. Brad Toll, president and CEO of the Greater Green Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Marian shrines around the world draw an average 12 million visitors a year. Shrine representatives said at the end of December that they already were 50 times busier than normal for the month, which is a lot for them, but only a foreshadowing of what is possible. "For certain days, hotels are seeing huge boosts already in reservations, such as for the Day of Ascension. The potential is something we've not seen in this area for tourism," he said Wednesday during a Brown County Room Tax Commission meeting. [link]
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