Oconto County tourism had a record year in 2023, contributing $140 million to the local economy, according to new data from the Wisconsin Tourism Office.
The total economic impact from tourism, based on visitor spending, employment income and tax impact, was $134 million in 2022, up 4.4%.
“It’s very family friendly, it’s an affordable place to stay,” Jamie Thelen, executive director of the Oconto Area Tourism and Economic Development Corporation (formerly the Oconto County Economic Development Corporation), said of the county’s appeal to tourists.
“If you want to spend a week on the lake and go cross-country skiing, I think you can stay here for a more affordable price than other destinations, especially when you combine that with the natural bounty. … We’re a good value for people who can afford it.”
Thelen said most of Oconto County’s tourists are weekend getaways from the Fox Cities, but the group’s website, ocontocounty.org, gets a lot of hits from the Chicago area and requests for information from as far away as western Wisconsin and Minnesota.
“There’s a certain relaxed atmosphere here that you don’t get in other markets with a lot of traffic and bright lights,” Mr. Thelen said.
Wisconsin sees strong growth across the state
Overall, the estimated overall economic impact for Wisconsin is more than $25 billion, up more than $1 billion from the 2022 record of $23.7 billion.
All 72 counties saw a net increase, most of which had a higher rate of increase than Oconto County, whose 4.4% increase was the 48th highest in the state. The Wisconsin average was 5.4%.
Among Oconto County’s neighboring counties, Marinette County increased 4.2% to $263 million, Forest County increased 5.8% to $25 million, Langlade County increased 5.5% to $82 million, Menominee County increased 10.3% to $6 million, Shawano County increased 2.7% to $114 million, and Brown County increased 4.7% to $1.3 billion.
Oconto County’s economic impact was $140 million, just below the middle for counties in the state, led by Milwaukee County ($4.1 billion).
A total of 113 million people visited Wisconsin last year, and direct visitor spending on lodging, restaurants, transportation and more reached $15.7 billion. That’s a 5% increase from 2022 and continues a positive trend after a dip in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state data.
In the first two years after the pandemic, visitor spending increased 31.1% in 2021 and 16.3% in 2022.
The impact of tourism on the economy
Tourism supports 783 jobs in Oconto County, up 21 (2.9%) from 2022, according to the study.
Labor income, wages or other compensation supported by visitor spending from tourism totaled $18.7 million, up 4.7% from $17.9 million in 2022.
State and local tax revenue from tourism reached $7.9 million, up 6.9% from 2022’s $7.3 million.
Looking to the future
The weather early this year hadn’t been good enough to get the 2024 tourism year off to a great start, Mr Sellen said.
Oconto’s average temperature in January was about 5 degrees warmer than normal, but snowfall was 6.5 inches below normal. February saw about 8 inches of snowfall below normal, and March saw about 3.5 inches of snowfall below normal.
With snow on the ground, the winter months can attract roughly the same number of tourists to hike, ski, snowshoe, snowmobile and ATV as those who visit the county in the summer, Sellen said.
“We weren’t able to open the ATV trails as quickly as other areas, but I’ve talked to our hospitality people and things seem to be moving in a good direction,” Thelen said. “Hotels are full, people are catching fish, which is always a plus. So, I think we’ll end up seeing the same or even better numbers, despite the tough winter, the tough start to the year.”
David Clarey contributed to this report.
Contact Kevin Dittman at 920-431-8416 or kdittman@gannett.com
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