Wisconsin's Sports Show Visitor

Participating in consumer sports shows is a valuable marketing tool to reach potential travelers. During the 2000 winter and 2001 spring seasons, the Department of Tourism conducted an extensive research project at 11 sports shows. Our findings uncovered similarities and differences in the travel preferences among sports show visitors.

Sport Show Visitor Demographics

• The typical sports show visitor is an average of 45 years old and lives in a household comprised of two adults and two children under 18 years old. 31% percent of visitors had household incomes of $41,000-$60,000, 23% between $61,000-$80,000 and 24% over $81,000.

• 70% plan their travel at least four weeks in advance and rely primarily on word-of-mouth, Wisconsin Department of Tourism publications, the Internet, magazines, sports shows, and weekly newspapers as sources of leisure information.

• The Wisconsin sports show visitor typically travels with family and friends or family-only groups. 58% of the parties travel with kids under 18 years old.

• 97% use overnight lodging accommodations, primarily hotels or motels, tent camping, or cabins. 

• Fishing (46%), camping (12%) and hunting (12%) are the top three leisure activities.

• Given the option of ordering travel publications at a later date, 85% want to receive publications at the show. When asked if they were interested in automatically receiving travel publications prior to coming to the show, 50% were in favor of this option.

• 20% of visitors are interested in getting Wisconsin travel ideas via e-mail updates.

Sports show visitors with children under 18

• 52% of the sports show visitors have kids under 18 living in their household. These visitors tend to be younger (41) and have larger household incomes than those without kids. There are several differences between the travel preferences of visitors with children compared to those without children.

• One-third of the households who do not have kids living at home still travel with kids.

• One-third of the households with kids plan their leisure trips four months or more in advance.

• These visitors rely on family and friends, tourism publications, and the Internet as their primary sources of leisure information.

• Tent and RV camping are more popular with the households who had kids, whereas households without kids stayed with friends/relatives or in B&Bs.

• Camping, hunting, boating and swimming are the favorite leisure time activities of the households with kids compared to households without kids who favored fishing, sightseeing, and golfing.

• Households with kids are more interested in receiving e-mail updates on Wisconsin travel ideas than households without kids.

Sports show visitors travel in Wisconsin

• Trade show visitors who travel in Wisconsin typically plan their trips in advance; 38% plan their trips 1-3 months in advance; 30% planned it more than 4 months in advance.

• Although word-of-mouth is the primary source of travel information, these visitors also use tourism publications and the Internet.

• Travel parties are primarily a combination of family and friends.

• Overnight travelers typically stay in hotel/motels and cabins or tent camp.

• Fishing, camping and hunting are the three favorite leisure activities of Wisconsin travelers.

Frequent Wisconsin Travelers

• The households of frequent and non-frequent visitors are very similar. Both households consist of four members, two adults and two children under the age of 18. Annual household incomes are also comparable; 55% have incomes between $41,000-$81,000; 24% have incomes of $81,000 or higher.

• Frequent Wisconsin travelers average 27 Wisconsin trips within the past three years - infrequent Wisconsin travelers average five.

• Frequent travelers are more spontaneous when planning their leisure trips. 43% plan their trips in less than four weeks compared to 28% of the infrequent traveler.

• Travel group make-up differs between the two segments. Frequent travelers generally travel with family and friends (63%) or family (25%). Infrequent traveler parties include family and friends (51%) and family (44%) groups.

• Frequent Wisconsin travelers stay in hotel/motels, or camp in RVs or tents; infrequent Wisconsin travelers stay in hotel/motels, in cabins or tent camp.

• Fishing, camping and hunting are important activities to both segments. However, the infrequent traveler also cites sightseeing, hiking, boating and biking with more frequency than the frequent traveler. 

• The frequent traveler is more interested in receiving e-mail updates and publications prior to the sports show than the infrequent traveler.

For a copy of the full report, contact Sue Hamilton at 608/266-6792.