Tourism spending in 2022 reached an all-time high for Wisconsin and showed growth throughout the New North region.
Gov. Tony Evers, with Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers, announced the tourism industry generated $23.7 billion in total economic impact, surpassing the previous record year of $22.2 billion in 2019.
“This is tremendous news and a testament to the hard work of the business owners, workers, and marketing partners across the industry and our strategic investments to bolster the industry at an especially difficult time,” said Evers.
All 72 counties experienced an increase in total tourism spending and in economic impact. Tourism supported 174,600 part-time and full-time jobs and generated $1.5 billion in state and local tax revenue.
The Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau reported direct visitor spending of $558 million last year, an increase of 20 percent over 2021, and the most since data tracking began in 2011. Lodging spending increased 34.5%, to $122 million. The bureau estimates the total financial impact of tourism in the Fox Cities last year was $729 million, supporting 4,900 jobs.
Discover Oshkosh also reported record tourism spending of $522 million, surpassing the record of $509 million in 2019.
More than 6 million people visited Brown County in 2022 leading to $765 million in direct spending. The total economic impact of the visitors was estimated at $1.3 billion, up nearly $100 million from the 2019 high.
Spending in Door County showed the second highest increase (behind the Wisconsin Dells area) of 33.7 percent. Visitors spent $466.5 million and total economic impact of tourism for the county is estimated at $582 million. Door County’s visitor economy supported 3,335 jobs.
In 2022, there were 111.1 million visits in Wisconsin, which was up 8.8 million visits, or 8.7 percent, over the previous year. This includes a record 45.4 million overnight visits, an increase of 13.8 percent from 2021. Overnight visitors, on average, spent nearly three times as much as day trip visitors. To learn more about Wisconsin tourism’s record-breaking year and view the 2022 economic impact data, including a county-by-county breakdown, visit: industry.travelwisconsin.com/research.
