Green Lake County sees large boost in tourism | News

Green Lake County saw the second-biggest jump among all counties in Wisconsin from 2021 to 2022 in total economic impact, as well as direct visitor spending.

This is according to a release sent June 6 by Gov. Tony Evers.

Compared to 2021, the total economic impact of the tourism sector in Green Lake County increased by 18.9%, which is behind just Dane County (19.7%) in comparison to all counties in the state. It also saw its direct visitor spending increase by 25.7%, trailing only Dane County’s 28.7% hike.

Overall, Wisconsin’s tourism industry brought in $23.7 billion last year, which surpasses the previous record of $22.2 billion generated in 2019. The state also totaled 111.1 million visits, which was up 8.8 million visits, or 8.7%, over 2021. This includes a record 45.4 million overnight visits, an increase of 13.8% from 2021. Overnight visitors, on average, spent nearly three times as much as day-trip visitors.

“Tourism is both big fun and big business,” Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers said in the June 6 press release. “I’m so grateful for the innovation and dedication of the folks who make up the Wisconsin tourism industry. Each one of them played a role in setting this record. Aided by strategic marketing, Wisconsin convinced more visitors to stay the night so they could add more activities to their itinerary, delivering a deeper economic impact. I congratulate the entire industry on an incredible record-breaking year.”

Green Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lisa Meier credited the Wisconsin Department of Tourism for its effectiveness in promoting Wisconsin in areas like Michigan, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. Meier said such regions are “drive-to destinations where people are just taking that destination and driving over.”

Meier noted that while a number of areas in Green Lake County helped account for the county’s jump, the lake plays a particularly big role. She added its size adds to how impressive this record-breaking feat is.

“If you look at Green Lake County, you’ve got Berlin and you’ve got Princeton, Green Lake and then some of our smaller communities like Markesan, Kingston and Dalton,” Meier said. “But really the lake is kind of the bread and butter for our tourism here. When you look at those direct visitors spending numbers in 2021, we went from $31.2 million to $39.2 million. … So that went up 25.7%, which is right behind Dane County in growth, which is pretty impressive when you’re looking at a comparable growth to a big community like Madison in that area.”

Meier explained that the Green Lake Area Chamber of Commerce is involved in attracting tourists to Wisconsin and specifically Green Lake in a variety of ways. She noted the majority of its focus on marketing is with general interests such as shopping, dining, boating, fishing and enjoying the lake.

“Another sector that I really focus on is golf, so we really put some dollars into that where we did promote [via] TV spots on the Golf Channel during the Masters down in Chicago market,” Meier said. “We’re targeting those individuals that are within a two-, three-, four-hour drive-to destination. A lot of our dollars go to video production, photography, digital marketing [and] some print.”

In leading a number of marketing-related projects, Meier noted she has noticed unprecedented touristic involvement from one particular neighboring state.

“We’re noticing some of the numbers coming from Minnesota more than ever,” she said. “We’re finding that that market is coming over to Green Lake … Typically, it’s the Chicago market that’s coming up to Green Lake, so we’re excited to see that region [Minnesota] starting to pick up on tourism over here in Green Lake.”

According to Meier, the Green Lake chamber is largely supported by room tax dollars and this money goes right back into marketing and advertising in order to promote Green Lake.

“Our funding comes from room tax dollars,” Meier said. “We collect 70% from the town of Brooklyn and from the city of Green Lake we collect 70% of the room tax dollars that they collect from our short-term rentals and our hotels and motels. We put our marketing dollars to work in the Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison area and the Green Bay region to get people here to help our local businesses thrive throughout the summer and offseason.”

Meier added that while efforts are made to attract visitors to the area, local businesses must continue pushing toward providing a welcoming and memorable experience and environment overall — something from which both businesses and the local economy will benefit.

“We get the people here through our marketing efforts, and it’s the business’ responsibility to serve them, be open and find the right products that these visitors are looking for to make their experience great,” Meier said. “So whether it’s a boat rental … or getting a cup of coffee somewhere, their job is to get those people in the door, which helps boost their pocket and our economy here locally.”

For Meier, the future holds similar success for Green Lake.

“I do believe it’s only going to get better; I believe that we’re on the right path,” Meier said, referring to the Green Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re growing, we’re healthy, we’re doing more to cater to our businesses and to cater to our visitors to get them here.”

To learn more about Wisconsin tourism’s record-breaking year and view the 2022 economic impact data, including a county-by-county breakdown, visit www/industry.travelwisconsin.com/research.