Washburn County, Wis. -- Just five short years ago, the Washburn County Tourism Association Board of Directors set a goal to increase visitor spending in the county by 25% in five years. At the time, many thought it was a far reach to achieve such a significant increase in a short period of time. Today, the news came in that the tourism board’s goal had not only been achieved, but the increase went beyond their expectations! In those five years, tourism saw an increase in direct spending of 27.17% and an increase in total spending of 26.71%.
Washburn County saw total business sales of $44.3 million in 2016, a 4.57% increase from 2015. Likewise, direct visitor spending hit $29.7 million, a 4.84% increase. In comparison to the 3.5% increase in economic impact from tourism across the state, Washburn County once again rose above the average. The impact on state and local taxes was $3.7 million, an increase of 4.35% from 2015. Tourism plays an extremely vital role in the economy and the tourism board is thrilled with the great increases we’ve seen over the past five years. With an aggressive county marketing campaign and our friendly, hard-working businesses in the area, the tourism economy in the county continues to grow. In addition, the report shows that the employment numbers increased by 3.55% and total labor income saw an increase of 8.5%.
Washburn County Tourism Association isn’t stopping there though, according to Michelle Martin, Executive Director of the organization. “We are most certainly celebrating the incredible increases that we’ve seen in visitor spending to our area, but while we celebrate, we are looking forward to the future,” said Martin. “The numbers we’ve seen reflect the hard work of not only our team here at tourism, but also our incredible tourism-related businesses in the area. We are constantly working on new marketing initiatives and our team will continue to pour our hearts out to the industry that we love. After all, our goal is to promote tourism in Washburn County and ultimately, to get visitors to each and every one of our great businesses.”
For the travelers that helped Wisconsin achieve a $700 million increase in tourism economic impact in 2016, it’s all about the fun and memories. For the state’s tourism industry, it’s big business. And for taxpayers and residents, it’s all about jobs and tax revenue those travelers generate. A study conducted by Tourism Economics shows the impact of tourism on the state’s economy reached $20 billion in 2016, an increase of 3.5 percent from the previous year.
Statewide, traveler spending generated $1.5 billion in state and local revenue and $1.1 billion in federal taxes.
“Traveler spending has grown an average of 4.5% per year since 2011,” Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett said. “It’s a tremendous credit to the tourism industry in all 72 counties and the work they do to create fun vacation experiences, market their destinations, and provide great customer service that makes travelers want to return to Wisconsin each year.”
Tourism continues to be one of Wisconsin’s most important economic resources. Research shows that tourism advertising goes beyond just promoting vacations; it also positively influences the state’s overall image as a great place to live, find a job, or open a business.
Klett added, “These results also let us know what we are doing is working and that investing in tourism not only benefits the economy, it also influences the way people think about Wisconsin.”
The Department of Tourism worked with a national research firm Tourism Economics and Longwoods International to produce the reports.
[Photo via Washburn County, WI; PC: James Netz Photography]
Last Update: May 05, 2017 11:54 am CDT
