USA: Tourism Spending Shoots Up Again

Jackson County again experienced an increase in direct visitor spending in 2015, according to data released last week by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.

The county saw spending increase nearly 7 percent from $36.1 million in 2014 to $38.6 million in 2015. The figures come after Jackson County experienced the largest percentage increase in the state from 2013 to 2014 in the category, which is calculated through a survey of U.S. household travel partners to include overnight visitors and day trip data.

Although the increase wasn’t as large as last year, it still is positive for local tourism and the economy, said Chris Hardie, executive director of the Black River Area Chamber of Commerce.

“It was still a fantastic year in tourism for Jackson County,” he said. “That obviously comes on top of a huge year in 2014, so there’s a lot to be happy with in terms of these tourism numbers.”

Jackson County also experienced an approximately 6 percent increase in total business sales from 2014 to 2015, going from $53.6 million to $56.9 million. In addition, the county was top in the state for its increase in tourism employment.

The newest data also comes after Jackson County saw a record year in room tax in 2015, setting the new record at $261,455 and $31,000 more than 2014. It’s a trend that connects to the increase in director visitor spending, Hardie said.


“We had a lot of room stays that were affiliated with various construction projects that were going on in the region, and that certainly helped fill room nights, which helps for the rest of these numbers,” he said. “That would certainly translate there.”

At the same time, the county is set to launch an ATV connector trail project, which will allow an underpass to be built between businesses on the east side of Interstate 94 in Black River Falls and connect existing trails to the west of the interchange.

The $1 million project, which is anticipated to get under way in two weeks, is pegged to be complete by August or September and is funded through county dollars, grant funding and up to $50,000 in city Tax Incremental Financing.

“It’s a two-fold project. There’s two elements – No. 1 is the safety concerns will be rectified, and second is the economic development impact for the city and county by connecting those businesses west of the interchange,” said Jon Schweitzer, assistant administrator of the county’s forestry and parks department.

Officials just this week met with businesses that will be affected by the project and look forward to its impact to the local tourism economy, Hardie said.

“The work that’s being done on the city connector trail will only boost those numbers because once that trail gets open and the loop gets established, there’s lots of opportunities for those ATV riders to increase business spending,” he said. “We have good numbers and we want to continue to grow.”