Tourism spending in Wisconsin and Dane County continues healthy climb
Direct visitor spending in 2023 rose 5% statewide while Dane County saw a 9.9% increase when compared to 2022. Tourism spending in Wisconsin increased by 5% in 2023 to $15.7 billion, with an overall economic impact of $25 billion, a 5.4% increase. Dane County led the way with a 9.9% increase in direct spending to $1.5 billion and an 8.4%. Overall economic impact increased to $2.56 billion. The tourism industry supported more than 178,000 part-time and full-time jobs, an increase of 2%, and generated $1.,6 billion in state and local tax revenue, up 5.8% from 2022. The growth trend continued in 20th as Travel Wisconsin launched marketing campaigns in 12 Midwestern states.
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Some camped at Devil's Lake State Park near Baraboo. Others attended business meetings at Epic Systems in Verona, while thousands wandered Air Venture in Oshkosh to take in aircraft from around the world.
And when 2023 concluded, it marked yet another record year for tourism spending in Wisconsin, with Dane County once again helping to lead the way.
Figures released Tuesday by the state show that direct tourism spending statewide increased 5% in 2023 to $15.7 billion with an overall economic impact of $25 billion, a 5.4% increase.
Dane County outpaced nearly all of the state's 72 counties and grew by 9.9% in direct spending to $1.5 billion and was up 8.4% in overall economic impact to $2.56 billion, marking some of the largest increases in the state. While not as dramatic as the increases from 2022, when the state was still rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers from 2023 were more welcome news for Elie Westman Chin, president and CEO of Destination Madison.
Over the last 11 years, including the pandemic years, direct tourism spending in Dane County has grown by an average of 6.2% per year.
“We are beyond ecstatic that we’re at 9.9% because we have put a lot of effort these past two years, three years, into our sales programs and sports programs and our leisure travel programs to really tell the world about Madison and all the great reasons there are to come and visit," Westman Chin said. “It’s pretty unheard of, overall.”
Dane County ranked second behind Milwaukee County, which had $2.3 billion in direct spending, a 6.4% increase over 2022 while Sauk County, home to many of the attractions of the Wisconsin Dells, ranked third with $1.6 billion in spending, a 0.6% increase. Waukesha County was fourth ($903 million, +5.6%), followed by Brown County ($798 million, +3.9%), Walworth County ($728 million , +7.1%) with Door County ($497 million, +5.6) coming in seventh.
Direct spending refers to money spent by tourists while overall economic impact measures how that spending effects the overall economy.
Three counties saw a slight decrease in direct spending as Ashland County was down 1.1% and Buffalo and Vernon counties each saw dips of 1.3% each. However, all of the state's counties saw an increase in overall economic impact as 113 million visits were counted, 2 million more than in 2022, and a record 46 million overnight stays were recorded.
The tourism industry supported more than 178,000 part-time and full-time jobs, an increase of 2%, and generated $1.6 billion in state and local tax revenue, up 5.8 percent from 2022.
“Wisconsin tourism powers the economy and strengthens the fabric of communities of all sizes,” Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers said. “The historic impact of tourism reached every corner of Wisconsin and, in doing so, sustained livelihoods for thousands of our friends and neighbors.”
The news further distances the state from the devastating effects of the pandemic that in 2020 plunged the state's tourism industry into despair. But by 2022, direct spending rose by more than $300 million to $1.4 billion — a level that had not been expected until 2025 and a whopping 28.7% increase over 2021. The overall economic impact from tourism in Dane County in 2022 rose 19.7% to $2.4 billion while statewide the overall impact jumped 13% to $23.7 billion, eclipsing the 2019 mark by $2.7 billion.
The growth trend continued in 2023 as Travel Wisconsin launched marketing campaigns in 12 Midwestern states as part of a $34 million, two-year effort to attract tourists to the state. It marks the largest increase in marketing and advertising funds for tourism in state history as Wisconsin tries to keep pace with neighboring states like Minnesota and Michigan. Gov. Tony Evers and Sayers were scheduled to make stops Tuesday in Eau Claire and Stevens Point to tout the news.
“These numbers show what an important role our tourism economy plays in our state’s economic success. And this didn’t happen by chance—this happens because of the hardworking folks in this critical industry who work day in and day out to make sure visitors enjoy their time here and come back year after year," Gov. Evers said. "We’ve been proud to help support their good work by making smart, strategic investments over the last several years to support Wisconsin’s tourism industry and our hard work together is clearly paying off.”
But it's not just the state investing in marketing efforts.
Destination Madison targeted leisure tourists within a 400 mile drive and in 2023 ran marketing campaigns in New York and Denver where direct flights connect those cities with Madison. This year, the program has been expanded to Washington, DC, Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix. The organization has also expanded its social media presence while also getting national exposure from the Daily Beast, Outside and Good Housekeeping.
Major draws for Madison include World Dairy Expo, Midwest Horse Fair, Ironman, Wisconsin Badgers football games and high school state tournament events like wrestling, boys and girls hockey, boys basketball and football. The city no longer is home to the CrossFit Games, which changed its format to an arena event and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, but Westman Chin said her team is working to replace the event.
“The minute they made that decision, is the minute we started working on replacing it," Westman Chin said. "Cross Fit was a big event for our community and we want to make sure we continue to bring big events like that into our community.”
Tourism in Dane County accounted for 18,811 jobs in 2023, a 4.8% increase from 2022 and accounted for $795 million in wages, a 6.5% rise. Tourism also generated $170.5 million in state and local taxes, a 10.6% increase over 2022.
Meanwhile, business travel, which has lagged behind leisure travel following the pandemic, continues to rebound. At Epic Systems, attendance was still down in 2023 for the software company's two major conferences but more than 16,000 are expected this year, according to Westman Chin.
"On the convention side of our business I would say our convention business is back and growing so we’re starting to see growth in that area," Westman Chin said. “Right now I would say everything is positive and growing in a good direction.”