Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau

What Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau does

Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau, operating under the consumer brand Destination Madison, is a private nonprofit destination marketing organization (DMO) founded in 1972 and headquartered at 22 E. Mifflin Street, Madison, Wisconsin. It functions as the official tourism promotion entity for the Greater Madison area, serving leisure travelers, meeting and convention planners, sports event organizers, and food/beverage enthusiasts through the visitmadison.com website, downtown and Capitol visitor centers, email newsletters, and social channels. Its core service is curating and distributing information about Madison's restaurants, hotels, attractions, events, and outdoor recreation (including 270+ parks and 200+ miles of trails) to drive tourism demand for the region.

The organization's technology backbone is the SimpleView destination marketing CMS and CRM, which powers the visitmadison.com portal encompassing event calendars, restaurant and hotel directories, attraction listings, and partner content. The Madison On Tap craft beverage trail operates as a sub-brand product layering a passport/loyalty mechanic across 30+ breweries, cideries, and distilleries, and the With Love, Madison inspiration guide serves as a downloadable print/digital visitor resource. Distribution is omnichannel: digital (website, blog, email, Instagram @destinationmadison), physical (Downtown Madison Visitor Center at 452 State Street, Wisconsin State Capitol Information Desk, seasonal Top of State Street booth), and partnership-based (hotels, restaurants, Downtown Madison Inc., Travel Wisconsin, Madison Area Sports Commission).

Revenue is generated through the standard DMO mix: hotel/motel occupancy taxes, membership fees from tourism-related businesses, and advertising/sponsorship on the Destination Madison platform. The organization operates 11-50 employees and does not publicly disclose revenue figures. It maintains formal partnerships with the City of Madison, Downtown Madison Inc., Destinations International, Travel Wisconsin, Madison Area Sports Commission, IGLTA, Tourism Cares, and Livability, supporting both content supply and joint event promotion.

Name

Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau

Legal name

Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau

Website

https://visitmadison.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau (Destination Madison) is a private nonprofit DMO founded in 1972 that promotes tourism to the Greater Madison, Wisconsin area via its visitmadison.com website, visitor centers, event listings, and craft beverage trail, serving leisure travelers, meeting planners, and sports event organizers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Permitting, Reservations & Visitor Information Services (Passes, Booking, Visitor Centers) (THAAAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Recreation & Activity Services (Hiking, Boating, Climbing, Fishing—Guided/Authorized) (THAAAGAF)

Keywords

• Destination marketing services
• Convention bureau services
• Visitor information services
• Tourism promotion
• Hospitality marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Tourism Promotion Services: As a Convention & Visitors Bureau, the organization generates revenue through tourism taxes (hotel/motel taxes), membership fees from tourism-related businesses, and potentially advertising/sponsorship revenue from partner promotions on their platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau, operating as Destination Madison, is the official destination marketing organization for the Greater Madison, Wisconsin region. It provides visitors with comprehensive trip-planning resources via the visitmadison.com tourism platform, including event calendars, restaurant directories, hotel listings, and attraction guides, while also operating the Madison On Tap Craft Beverage Trail loyalty program, physical visitor centers, and seasonal inspiration guides for leisure and convention travelers.

Product overview

Destination Madison operates a unified tourism marketing platform centered on its primary website (visitmadison.com) that serves as a comprehensive visitors guide for Madison, Wisconsin. The platform encompasses the core Destination Madison website with integrated event calendars, restaurant directories, and attraction listings, supplemented by the Madison On Tap Craft Beverage Trail sub-brand offering a loyalty program for local breweries, cideries, and distilleries. Additional products include the 'With Love, Madison' inspiration guide and email newsletter services. The organization functions as a destination marketing organization (DMO) rather than a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Madison On Tap: A free craft beverage trail program featuring 30+ breweries, cideries, and distilleries in the Madison area with discounts and prizes

Products and services

• Destination Madison Website The primary tourism marketing platform for Madison, Wisconsin, providing comprehensive information about local events, restaurants, hotels, attractions, and activities across all seasons. Built on SimpleView CMS with integrated event calendars, restaurant and attraction directories, and trip-planning resources for leisure and convention visitors.
• Madison On Tap Craft Beverage Trail A free craft beverage trail/passes program connecting visitors to 30+ breweries, cideries, and distilleries in the Madison area, offering discounts, loyalty points, and prize rewards for participating venues.
• With Love, Madison Inspiration Guide A seasonal inspiration guide and free visitor resource featuring recommended Madison experiences, suggested itineraries, and trip-planning information for prospective and current visitors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Madison ranked second most bike-friendly city in the country by PeopleForBikes
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Downtown Madison Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain downtown business improvement district partner collaborating on events, promotions, and downtown visitor services
• Destinations InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal trade association for convention and visitors bureaus providing industry resources and best practices
• Travel WisconsincoreGTM or Marketing PartnerState tourism marketing organization featuring Madison destinations and Travel Green Wisconsin certification program
• Madison Area Sports CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSports tourism organization bidding on and hosting major sporting events in the Madison area
• Tourism CaresminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNonprofit supporting tourism industry community involvement and sustainability initiatives
• IGLTA (International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerLGBTQ+ travel association member providing inclusive tourism marketing resources
• SimpleViewcoreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite platform provider powering visitmadison.com with destination marketing CMS and CRM capabilities
• Union Cab CooperativeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSafe ride transportation partner for Madison On Tap craft beverage trail and general visitor transportation
• LivabilityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner featuring Madison on 'Top 100 Places to Live' rankings
• City of MadisoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal government partner for events, parks, and tourism infrastructure

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Visit Milwaukee: Convention & visitors bureau for the nearby Wisconsin city of Milwaukee with similar mid-size Midwest DMO mandate, comparable tourism tax funding model, and overlapping sports and culinary tourism programs.
• Experience Grand Rapids: Michigan-based DMO of similar size and scope to Destination Madison, also leveraging craft beverage trails (Beer City USA), arts/culture programming, and event-driven tourism marketing in a mid-size Midwest city.
• Choose Chicago: Illinois DMO serving a larger but comparable Midwest urban market with a similar visitor information center model, convention sales focus, and citywide event calendar approach.
• Visit Indy: Indianapolis convention and visitors bureau operating under an analogous tourism tax funding structure with strong emphasis on amateur sports bidding and event hosting, directly comparable to Madison's sports tourism strategy.
• Visit Minneapolis: Minnesota DMO with comparable lake-and-urban geographic positioning to Madison, both cities emphasizing biking infrastructure, parks, and a strong craft beverage scene for visitor marketing.
• Destination Cleveland: Midwest DMO with an analogous mission of repositioning a mid-size Rust Belt city through culinary, arts, and outdoor recreation content—similar challenger-brand DMO positioning to Madison's.

Broad incumbents

• Travel Wisconsin: State-level destination marketing organization that is both a partner and a broader incumbent; promotes Madison destinations within a statewide portfolio but does not specialize in Madison-specific visitor services.
• Visit Denver: Larger DMO with overlapping outdoor recreation, craft beverage, and sports event marketing competencies; serves as a benchmark for Madison's potential growth trajectory.

Others

• SimpleView: Core technology vendor powering Destination Madison's website and CRM; an enabling ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor, but a key dependency for the DMO's digital channel.
• Madison Area Sports Commission: Local sports tourism organization that is both a Destination Madison partner and an adjacent ecosystem player, focused specifically on sports event bidding and hosting in the same geography.

Market position

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/destinationmadison
• Xx.com/visit_madison
• Facebookfacebook.com/travelmadison
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/destination-madison

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau