Data says visitors love Oconto County as area sees recording-breaking year in 2023

Oconto County tourism had a record year in 2023, contributing $140 million to the local economy, according to new data from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.

The total tourism economic impact — a figure based on visitor spending, employment income and tax impacts — rose 4.4%, from $134 million in 2022.

"We are very family friendly, so it is an affordable place to be," Jayme Sellen, the executive director of the Tourism and Economic Development Corp. for the Oconto Region (formerly the Oconto County Economic Development Corp.), said of the county's appeal to tourists.

"So if you were looking for a week’s vacation on a lake or cross-country skiing, we are probably more affordable than some other destinations, so I would think the combination of just our natural amenities. … We are a good deal for those wage earners."

Sellen said the bulk of the Oconto County tourists are people taking weekend trips from the Fox Cities, but the organization's website, ocontocounty.org, gets numerous hits from the Chicago area, and receives requests for information from the western side of Wisconsin and into Minnesota.

"There is just a certain amount of relaxation you can have here that you can’t have in any other markets, where there is a lot of traffic and a lot of bright lights," Sellen said.

Wisconsin's growth strong across state

Overall, Wisconsin as a whole topped $25 billion in economic impact, growing more than $1 billion from 2022 when it set a record with $23.7 billion.

All 72 counties saw a net growth, with most seeing a stronger rise than Oconto County. The county's 4.4% increase ranked 48th best in the state. Wisconsin's statewide average was 5.4%.

Among Oconto County's neighboring counties, Marinette was up 4.2% to $263 million, Forest up 5.8% to $25 million, Langlade up 5.5% to $82 million, Menominee up 10.3% to $6 million, Shawano up 2.7% to $114 million, and Brown up 4.7% to $1.3 billion.

Oconto County's $140 million economic impact ranks slightly below the middle of the state's counties, which is led by Milwaukee County ($4.1 billion).

In all, 113 million visits were made to Wisconsin last year resulting in $15.7 billion in direct visitor spending, money spent by visitors on things like lodging, restaurants and transportation. That was a 5% increase from 2022, which continued a positive trend following a 2020 drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state data.

Visitor spending increased by 31.1% in 2021 and 16.3% in 2022, in the first two years after the pandemic.

How tourism affects the economy

The study said tourism supported 783 jobs in Oconto County, an increase of 21 jobs, or 2.9%, from 2022.

Labor income, wages or other pay supported by visitor spending from tourism totaled $18.7 million, which is up 4.7% from $17.9 million in 2022.

The state and local tax generation from tourism hit $7.9 million, an increase of 6.9% from $7.3 million in 2022.

Looking ahead

The weather did not cooperate at the beginning of this year to get the 2024 tourism year off to a great start, according to Sellen.

In January, Oconto's average temperature was about 5 degrees warmer while it received 6.5 inches less snow than normal. February saw about 8 inches less snow than average and March about 3.5 inches less.

Sellen said that with snow on the ground, the winter season can lure close to the same number of people who come to the county during the summer, as tourists enjoy hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and riding ATVs.

"We did not get to open our ATV trails as early as some other areas, but just talking to our hospitality people, things are going in the right direction," Sellen said. "Our hotels are booked; the fish are biting, which is always a plus, so I think that at the end of the day, we will probably be at the same numbers or higher, despite having a rough winter, a rough 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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