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The Lakeside Spirit won’t grace Lake Winnebago’s waters this summer.

Fond du Lac Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is selling the excursion yacht it has operated since 2006.

The yacht is listed with Pinnacle Marine Corp., according to a Convention Bureau press release.

The vessel hasn’t fulfilled its intended purpose, said Craig Molitor, president of Fond du Lac Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Lakeside Spirit was purchased with bed tax dollars — revenue from a 7 percent sales tax on hotel room stays — in hopes that it would attract more consumers from out of town. The purchase was intended to put heads in hotel beds.

But that hasn’t happened. Molitor said passenger surveys showed that most Lakeside Spirit passengers are from Fond du Lac. Molitor said purchase of the boat would have worked if there were more tourists, but residents alone can’t support the boat.

The economy was stronger when the bureau purchased the boat, but the travel industry has faced steep declines the last three years due to the recession, said Molitor, who joined the Convention Bureau last June.

The Lakeside Spirit also keeps Convention Bureau staff from fulfilling their primary goal — attracting visitors to Fond du Lac and filling hotels. By bringing people to town, Fond du Lac improves its chances of bolstering economic development and job growth.

With the Lakeside Spirit off their hands, staffers can dedicate more time to selling Fond du Lac, he said.

The organization will unveil a new website this summer with updated restaurant, hotel and attraction information and is producing a video about Fond du Lac County. It also hired a full-time salesperson to sell Fond du Lac to outlying cities, as well as a marketing firm to lead a branding initiative for the county.

“(The boat) kept us from accomplishing what we’re supposed to do,” he said. “We need now more than ever to bring people to the community.”

Molitor said he sympathizes with local residents who enjoyed taking a dinner cruise on Lake Winnebago. He hopes a buyer operates it locally, but there’s no guarantee the Lakeside Spirit will stay in Fond du Lac.

The Lakeside Spirit is listed with a price of $99,500, far below the $215,000 the Convention Bureau paid for it in 2006. Molitor said the broker set the price, so he’s not sure why the value fell. However, boats, cars and planes depreciate over time, he said. Also, like the housing market, prices on recreational vehicles may have plummeted due to the economy.

The boat was built in 1992 and passed its most recent inspection, according to its regulatory file through the United States Coast Guard.

Bids are still open and there is no deadline to sell it, Molitor said.