Douglas County Visitor Spending at $82.7 million

The Wisconsin Department of Tourism has announced the impacts 2020 tourism had on the Wisconsin economy with $9.8 billion in visitor spending and $17.2 billion in business sales. While tourism has experienced the toughest year on record, Tourism is still a powerful driver of the state and local economies.  Despite the pandemic, Wisconsin still welcomed 90.7 million visitors and supported over 107,500 jobs in the state. The findings are a part of a study conducted by Tourism Economics highlighting continued growth across the state’s tourism industry. The announcement comes as Wisconsin’s tourism industry celebrates this year’s National Travel &Tourism Week (May 2-8) amidst bounce back efforts.

Locally, travelers to Douglas County spent $82.7 million in direct visitor spending with $124.4 million in total business sales. Direct visitor spending is down -22.24% year over year, which can be contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In all, despite the pandemic, the hospitality and tourism industry supported 1,088 jobs in Superior and Douglas County in 2020, contributing to $28.2 million in labor income and $9.3 million in state and local taxes. Superior and Douglas County’s position as a strong outdoor recreation destination helped support the industry despite all of the challenges presented by the pandemic.

“Unfortunately, these numbers are not surprising to us and are in line with the indicators we use to gauge tourism. Tourism was one of the most negatively impacted industries from the effects of the pandemic and we anticipate that the climb back to pre-pandemic levels will continue to be gradual, said Taylor Pedersen, President and CEO of Travel Superior “In some respects we are fortunate that our region and county has bounced back as quickly as we have. Many areas continue to struggle more than we are, and we aren’t even through this yet. We have a strong sense of community, and we need to continue to support one another as we move ahead. Travel Superior looks forward to what we hope will be a strong tourism year in 2021.”

Recovery campaign efforts are well underway.  National research shows that 87 percent of Americans plan to travel within the next six months. Governor Tony Evers has committed $50 million out of the American Rescue Plan Act funds to help the tourism and hospitality industries bounce back in Wisconsin.  Travel Superior has and continues to work diligently to attract visitors to the Superior and Douglas County region.

About Travel Superior - Travel Superior, the Superior Douglas County Visitor Bureau works to promote and market the Superior and Douglas County region as a premier travel destination.  Travel Superior operates an official Travel Wisconsin Welcome Center as well as uses mediums such as digital, social media, and print advertising to encourage visitors to our beautiful corner of Northwest Wisconsin.