Door County Visitor Spending Up $11 Million in 2017

Visitor spending in Door County was up $11 million dollars last year according to a report from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. The publication of the state’s tourism economic impact report for 2017 coincides with National Travel and Tourism Week, which runs from May 6-12, 2018.

Door County visitors spent $358.7 million in 2017, an increase of 3.14 percent over the $347.8 million dollars spent by visitors in 2016.

Overall visitor spending in Wisconsin totaled $12.7 billion last year according to the annual economic impact study prepared for the Wisconsin Department of Tourism by Tourism Economics. That’s a statewide increase of 3.2 percent compared to the $12.3 billion visitors spent in Wisconsin in 2016.

In Door County, the $358.7 million in direct visitor spending last year supported 3,225 jobs and $78.5 million in labor income. Visitor spending also generated $38.5 million in state and local taxes, an increase of $1.1 million, or 2.95 percent, over 2016. Total business sales from tourism, which includes direct and indirect spending, totaled $456.9 million in 2017, an increase of 3.18 percent more than the previous year.

Jack Moneypenny, president and CEO of the Door County Visitor Bureau (DCVB), said, “We are pleased to see the ninth consecutive year of visitor spending growth in Door County, and along with it, the positive impact these dollars have on our local economy. Visitor spending has grown by more than $100 million since 2009, that’s a significant increase and shows that our collective efforts to promote Door County are having an impact.”

Door County ranked 7th among the state’s 72 counties in visitor spending last year with Milwaukee County topping the list followed by Dane, Sauk, Waukesha, Brown and Walworth counties.