FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Krystal Westfahl, Chair -The Northwoods of Wisconsin,

krystal@minocqua.org, (715) 356-5266

Wisconsin’s Northwoods communities band together to boost future tourism “We Love the Northwoods” campaign is a chance for visitors and residents to show their pride

MINOCQUA, Wis. (April 23, 2020)—The communities of Wisconsin’s Northwoods are launching a new campaign to show support for their part of the state as travelers continue to navigate life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The campaign is being rolled out by The Northwoods of Wisconsin, a group of county and chamber officials from six counties, who’ve been collaborating to promote tourism to northern Wisconsin since 2011.  Partners include the communities in Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Oneida, Price and Vilas counties.

The campaign includes a new “We Love the Northwoods” icon that will be branded on social media posts, e-newsletters and websites from the partnering communities as a visible reflection of community pride. They’ve also launched a Facebook profile photo frame that allows users the chance to show their pride as well, along with a hashtag campaign, #WeLovetheNorthwoods, where travelers can share their photos on social media for other up north aficionados to enjoy together.

“We love where we live, but we know that love is often just as strong in our visitors,” said Krystal Westfahl, Executive Director of the Let’s Minocqua Visitors Bureau + Chamber of Commerce and Chair of The Northwoods of Wisconsin consortium. “This campaign is a chance for people to really show off their Northwoods pride and hopefully get others excited about visiting us when the time is right.”

For years, but now more frequently than ever, The Northwoods of Wisconsin group has met regularly to discuss the state of tourism in the area and are beginning to collaborate on potential recovery efforts as well, with a likely end date to the governor’s Safer At Home order in sight on May 26. By working closely with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, their local state tourism department representative and local government leaders, the group feels it can be poised to help the area get back on its feet just in time for the start of the busy summer season.

“Summer is our bread-and-butter here,” Westfahl said. “We’re focusing on a strong comeback and making the most of the warm weather months when we can happily welcome back the visitors and second homeowners who we’ve been missing this spring.”

Westfahl says that collaboration is key to making the efforts successful, so the group has launched WeLovetheNorthwoods.com, a hub site that will share community news. “We want to be on the same page with how we’re welcoming back visitors, cleanliness standards, the kinds of events that will be continuing, and we can do that best when we have a united front,” Westfahl said.

For more information, visit The Northwoods of Wisconsin on Facebook.