Room-Tax Returns Up 5 Percent in 2019

It was another banner year for Door County room-tax collections in 2019. Most returns for the year are now in, and reports show room-tax collections were up at least 5 percent for the year. 

The Door County Tourism Zone collected $5,132,567 to date – the first time collections have exceeded $5 million. Thirty percent of collections are sent back to the municipalities where they were collected for those municipalities to use however they wish. In 2019, that amounted to $1.53 million. In the Town of Gibraltar – the county’s largest room-tax generator – the total going back into the municipal budget exceeds $230,000. 

Four percent of collections go to administration of the tourism zone, and 66 percent goes to Destination Door County (formerly the Door County Visitor Bureau) for marketing. 

Visitors to the county filled 561,515 room nights and generated more than $94.6 million in revenue for lodging establishments – up from $89.8 million in 2018. 

Among the communities with the largest revenue, the biggest increases were seen in Sister Bay (7.8 percent), the Village of Egg Harbor (6.4 percent) and the Town of Egg Harbor (6.2 percent). The three communities have been growing fastest for multiple years. Much of the Town of Egg Harbor’s revenue comes from the Landmark Resort, the county’s largest lodging facility. 

Collection numbers will be adjusted as the last remaining late-reporting properties file returns with the tourism zone.