Destination Showcase
La Crosse
Phone: (800) 658-9424
Address: 410 Veterans Memorial Drive
La Crosse, WI 54601
E-mail: nerison@explorelacrosse.com or
brown@explorelacrosse.com
Website: www.lacrosseconventions.com
Number of hotel rooms: 2000+
Largest room block: 140
Largest meeting facility: 100,000
Largest exhibit facility: 100,000
Airport: La Crosse Municipal Airport (7 miles)
Minneapolis: 120 miles
Chicago: 300 miles
Tucked between the Mississippi river and its nearby bluffs, La Crosse is a vibrant, compact and picturesque city that seems as if it was built with meetings and conventions in mind.
“Meeting planners tell me the major reason they love La Crosse is that everything is in such close proximity,” says Sharon Nerison, Director of Convention Sales for the La Crosse area CVB.
Anchored by the La Crosse Center, a versatile, 100,000-square-foot riverfront convention center, the downtown has a wealth of convention hotels, shopping, dining and entertainment, all within walking distance.
“Downtown is just so vibrant,” Nerison says. “in most towns that you go to, you do not have the luxury of walking out of your hotel room and being surrounded by so much.”
Historic downtown La Crosse was awarded the Great American Main street Award in 2002, the same year it was named by readers of Wisconsin Trails magazine as the “Best Revitalized Downtown” in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin’s largest city on the Mississippi, La Crosse is also a regional hub of the three-state region that includes southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa. with total hotel rooms and convention space rivaling cities twice its size, La Crosse takes its role as host seriously. With one call to the La Crosse Area CVB, planners have access to an on-site research department that will expertly provide as much support as needed, from RFP's to specs on lodging and meeting spaces, caterers, entertainment and more.
“We have a lot more resources than meeting planners know about,” Nerison says, including lots of ideas for fun after the meeting. Down the road in any direction you’ll find interesting day trips, including dozens of little hamlets along the Mississippi River, Amish communities in the countryside, and the Norskedalen Nature and Heritage Center in nearby Coon Valley, to name just a few.
The river itself offers plenty to do, too, including the leisurely strolls along the river walk downtown, charter bus rides on the Great River Road, amazing views from Grandad Bluff and excursions aboard authentic riverboats for sunset or cocktail cruises.“
People really do have a lot of fun here,” Nerison says. “We say that nature created it … We perfected it.”
