Walker and Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett visited the zoo, where they also handfed fish to a seal named Scooter and visited the penguin exhibit.

Later they headed to La Crosse to tour the Loggers baseball stadium and then to GreenBay, where they visited the construction site for the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. The tour came to mark the start of this year’s National Travel and Tourism Week, which runs May 2-10. Walker’s administration announced the tourism economy topped $18.5 billion in 2014, a $1 billion boost from $17.5 billion in 2013. The 5.5 percent increase was spurred by a rise in both visits and spending per trip.

The tour continues this weekend as Walker is in Hayward for the 50th annual Governor’s Fishing Opener. Walker joked that his encounter with feeding the sea
creatures “gave him an early taste of fishing” just in time for the fishing opener.