APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – Governor Tony Evers made a stop in Appleton Wednesday to talk about helping the tourism industry recover from the pandemic.

The Governor met with local business owners who gathered at the Trout Museum of Art in Downtown Appleton. He noted the slow road to recovery in many local areas and hopes tourism across the state will pick up soon.

In addition, Evers spoke on his plans to spend federal dollars to help local communities. “We will be spending in the neighborhood of $50 million of the recovery act that the Federal Government is doing, on tourism-related industries, but also several hundred million dollars will go toward small businesses in the state,” says Evers.

Gov. Evers also spoke on the Badger Bounceback Plan, and points out how tourism is really connected to all parts of the community. He explains how getting visitors to attractions will bring them into restaurants, bars, hotels, and shops, helping the business community as a whole.

Evers says he believes tourism is integral to Wisconsin, especially in areas like Appleton. “It’s time for us to return to some sense of normalcy, but then in turn we learned a lot during the pandemic, too, that we want to make sure that we continue to implement things that would mitigate this happening again,” says Evers.

Noting that timing is important, Evers explains how he coordinated Appleton’s speech with another speech in Door County so they happen during national tourism and travel week this week.

Evers says the Department of Tourism is working on efforts to encourage people to come out and visit the state again.