41.11 Duties.

(1) General Duties. The department shall:

(a) Stimulate, promote, advertise and publicize tourism to the state by those who live in other states and foreign countries.

(b) Promote travel by citizens of this state to this state's scenic, historic, natural, agricultural, educational and recreational attractions.

(c) Create an accurate national and international image of the state.

(d) Encourage all tourism-related businesses to participate in available education programs.

(e) Encourage and cooperate with communities, groups and individuals in the state in pursuing the tourism promotion objectives of the department.

(f) Coordinate and stimulate the orderly and ecologically sound development of commercial tourist facilities throughout the state.

(g) Promote the growth of the tourism and recreation industry through research, planning and assistance.

(h) Annually report to the senate natural resources committee and the assembly committee on tourism the activities, marketing efforts, receipts, and disbursements of the department for the previous fiscal year. The report under this paragraph shall include information on the marketing efforts conducted for the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail established under s. 84.10255.

(1g) Goals and accountability measures for economic development programs.

(a) In this subsection, “economic development program" means a program or activity having the primary purpose of encouraging the establishment and growth of business in this state, including the creation and retention of jobs, and that satisfies all of the following:

1. The program receives funding from the state or federal government that is allocated through an appropriation under ch. 20.

2. The program provides financial assistance, tax benefits, or direct services to specific industries, businesses, local governments, or organizations.

(b) The department, in consultation with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, shall do all of the following for each economic development program administered by the department:

1. Establish clear and measurable goals for the program that are tied to statutory policy objectives.

2. Establish at least one quantifiable benchmark for each program goal described in subd. 1.

3. Require that each recipient of a grant or loan under the program submit a report to the department. Each contract with a recipient of a grant or loan under the program shall specify the frequency and format of the report to be submitted to the department and the performance measures to be included in the report.

4. Establish a method for evaluating the projected results of the program with actual outcomes as determined by evaluating the information described in subds. 1. and 2.

5. Annually and independently verify, from a sample of grants and loans, the accuracy of the information required to be reported under subd. 3.

6. Establish by rule a requirement that the recipient of a grant or loan under the program of at least $100,000 submit to the department a verified statement signed by both an independent certified public accountant licensed or certified under ch. 442 and the director or principal officer of the recipient to attest to the accuracy of the verified statement, and make available for inspection the documents supporting the verified statement. The department shall include the requirement established by rule under this subdivision in the contract entered into by a grant or loan recipient.

7. Establish by rule policies and procedures permitting the department to do all of the following if a recipient of a grant or loan or tax benefits under the program submits false or misleading information to the department or fails to comply with the terms of a contract entered into with the department under the program and fails to provide to the satisfaction of the department an explanation for the noncompliance:

a. Recoup payments made to the recipient.

b. Withhold payments to be made to the recipient.

c. Impose a forfeiture on the recipient.

(1r) Economic development assistance coordination and reporting.

(a) The department shall coordinate any economic development assistance with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

(b) Annually, no later than October 1, the department shall submit to the joint legislative audit committee and to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3) a comprehensive report assessing economic development programs, as defined in sub. (1g) (a), administered by the department. The report shall include all of the information required under s. 238.07 (2). The department shall collaborate with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to make readily accessible to the public on an Internet-based system the information required under this subsection.

(2) Sales. The secretary shall annually formulate, in consultation with the 5 members of the council on tourism selected under s. 41.12, a statewide marketing strategy, which is a plan for marketing and promotion of the facilities and attractions of the state for the ensuing year. The department shall implement the plan. The department shall cooperate with the commercial recreation industry to assure coordination with private plans and programs, and may assist in the development and marketing of combined recreational opportunities such as package tours, convention and trade show facilities and special transportation arrangements.

(3) Services. The department shall assist the consumers and the suppliers of recreational opportunities in the state. The department may:

(a) Collect and disseminate information as to the facilities, advantages and attractions of the state, including historic, scenic and other points of interest.

(b) Provide timely information regarding weather, transportation facilities, hunting, fishing, boating, motoring, snowmobiling and skiing conditions and other subjects of interest to those seeking recreational opportunities in the state.

(c) Establish, manage and operate permanent or temporary tourist information centers along major highways into the state.

(d) Provide advice and service to persons or groups engaged in the recreation industry.

(e) Conduct research into the status and needs of the recreation industry.

(f) Operate a reservations service for recreational facilities in the state.

(g) Provide planning and coordinating assistance to tour operators, convention and trade show managers.

(4) Advertising. The department shall plan and conduct a program of advertising and promotion designed to attract interested persons to this state and to stimulate the enjoyment of its recreational opportunities by residents and nonresidents alike. Any contracts engaging a private agency to conduct an advertising or promotion program under this subsection shall reserve to the department the right to terminate the contract if the service is unsatisfactory to the department. The department shall encourage and coordinate the efforts of public and private organizations to publicize the facilities and attractions of the state for the purpose of stimulating their enjoyment by residents and tourists.

(4m) Access to customer information; fees.

(a) Notwithstanding s. 19.35, the department may refuse to reveal names, addresses and related demographic information maintained on any list that the department has compiled of persons who have requested information about travel opportunities in the state. The department may not refuse to reveal such information to representatives of the news media.

(b) Notwithstanding s. 19.71, if the department provides information from a list of persons requesting travel information, the department may charge the person requesting the information a fee to recover the department's actual costs of compiling and providing the information. The department may reduce or waive the fee under this subsection if the department determines that the reduction or waiver is in the public interest.

(5) Cheese distribution.

(a) The department shall distribute cheese that was donated, or purchased from donations received under par. (c), free of charge to the public each year from the 2nd to last Monday in May to the first Monday in September at each tourist information center operated by the department in this state except the tourist information center located in Madison.

(b) Cheese distributed under par. (a) shall be in packages of one ounce or less and shall be manufactured in Wisconsin.

(c) The department shall accept cheese, and refrigeration equipment and gifts, grants, bequests and devises, for the purpose of implementing this subsection. If there is an insufficient amount of cheese available to implement this subsection, the department shall contact potential donors for donations. The department shall return any surplus cheese to the donor.

History: 1975 c. 39, 163, 200; 1983 a. 92; 1987 a. 1; 1995 a. 27 s. 6918; Stats. 1995 s. 41.11; 1999 a. 9; 2005 a. 25, 253; 2007 a. 125; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 32; 2015 a. 55, 270.