Only one county saw a bigger percentage gain in tourism spending than Door County in 2021.
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism recently released its 2021 tourism numbers, showing a total economic impact of $20.9 billion. That is an increase of 21 percent over 2020 when the pandemic brought things to a standstill for several months. The number of visitor trips went up 13 percent to 102.3 million.
Door County saw a 33.7 percent increase in total business sales according to department data, from $397 million in 2020 to $531 million in 2021. Only Sauk County, which includes Wisconsin Dells, saw a bigger year-over-year jump in total business sales at a 44 percent increase. Direct visitor spending in Door County went up at an even steeper clip of 39 percent to $423 million. Only Sauk (54.6 percent) and Buffalo (44.4 percent) counties saw bigger jumps in that category.
Every county experienced double-digit growth in total business sales from 2020 to 2021. Kewaunee County saw a 16.3 percent increase in total business sales from $37 million to $43 million. It saw its direct visitor spending go up over 25 percent from $22 million to $27.7 million. You can see the data shared by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism by clicking this link.
Destination Door County and the Door County Tourism Zone will present its annual report on June 16th over Zoom at 9 a.m.
