Hitting the $4 million mark in sales tax collections last year is just one indicator of Door County’s growth as a tourist destination. Since the half-percent sales tax was first consistently collected in 1989, its annual collections have grown 230 percent. Jon Jarosh from the Door County Visitor Bureau points to 2009 as being a turning point.

Jarosh says the 2018 figures are up three percent over last year when they came up $40,000 short of the $4 million benchmark. Another tourism indicator, preliminary room tax collections, also saw an increase in 2018. According to the Door County Tourism Zone website, ten out of the 11 reported months in 2018 showed an increase in revenue over 2017’s numbers.