County Sets Occupancy Record in July

County lodging establishments had a banner month in July, setting a record high for nights filled. 

Preliminary July reporting from the Door County Tourism Zone Commission showed the county filled 113,596 room nights for the month: an increase of 6,241 over the same month in 2019, or 5.8%. The previous record for room nights filled occurred in July of 2017, when 112,515 nights were filled, meaning the county experienced an increase of slightly less than 1% of room nights filled compared to July of 2017. That number may also increase as late reports come in.

The July numbers follow a robust June report.

The increase was more dramatic in dollar terms thanks to an increase in the average daily rate from $202 to $232 since 2019. That pushed total collections to $1,441,032 – up from $1,178,016 in 2019.

Occupancy percentages throughout the peninsula surpassed 84%, and they reached records of 91.4% in Ephraim and 90.6% in the Village of Egg Harbor.

Occupancy percentages are partially inflated by the fact that many establishments limited the days when rooms were available because of staffing issues or COVID-19 concerns. That meant the total number of lodging nights available was far lower than during previous years, but even if those nights had all been available and not filled, the countywide occupancy percentage would have reached a record 79%. The previous high was 77.27% in July of 2017.

For the year to date, room-tax collections are up 40%, to $3,426,623, and total lodging revenue has grown from $45 million in 2019 to nearly $63 million in 2021.