The Wisconsin Welcome Center in Pleasant Prairie will once again become more welcoming Nov. 3 when it will be staffed five days a week.

Employees from the Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau will staff the center 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, from November to March, and then seven days a week from April through October.

The center, located at I-94 and Highway 165, was staffed by the Department of Tourism, but those jobs were slashed in April 11 after Gov. Jim Doyle cut $1.7 million from that budget.

“This is something we’ve been working toward since April,” said Dennis DuChene, president of the Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “As a board, we felt it was a good value to be out there and answering questions. This is the right time and right place to partner with the state.”

DuChene said one full-time and one part-time employee will staff the center.

He predicted the staff would be busy during the Christmas season, with shoppers headed to Prime Outlets of Pleasant Prairie.

“People are traveling year-round, and we’d always like to see tourism increase,” he said. “Prime Outlets is one of our major attractions, and having the center open will help there. There’s also a number of different things going on with the museums, so we can promote downtown as well.”

The bureau represents Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, Wheatland and Bristol. It is funded by hotel room taxes in those communities.

The Visitors Information Center, 812 56th St., with continue to operate weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

According to information from the bureau, Wisconsin’s $13 billion tourism industry is one of the top three industries in the state. In Kenosha County, tourists spent a record $225.2 million in 2008.