Green Bay, Wis – In an independent study with industry leader, Tourism Economics, Discover Green Bay reports that in 2021, 5.5 million people visited Brown County and visitor spending rebounded to reach 88% of pre-pandemic levels. Direct visitor spending totaled $632 million with an impressive economic impact of $1.1 billion.
Each year Tourism Economics is commissioned by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism to complete an economic impact study on statewide tourism. Discover Green Bay further engages Tourism Economics to provide a more detailed report on tourism specifically in Brown County.
Key findings of this localized study include:
- Visitor spending growth was led by the lodging sector at 58% more than 2020. Recreational spending was up 35% and food and beverage spending also rose 30%.
- Five spending categories, including the aforementioned, as well as retail and transportation showed total growth of 33%.
- The year’s strongest growth was posted in the fourth quarter of the year (October – December), which saw higher spending in 2021 than Q4 of 2019.
- Brown County has 9,860 tourism industry-related jobs with a total income of $500 million.
- Tourism in Brown County generated $86 million in state and local taxes in 2021.
“The tourism industry has bounced back extremely well in 2021 after the devastation of a global pandemic in the year prior,” said Brad Toll, President of Discover Green Bay. “While we’re proud of our resilient industry, there is still more work to be done to fully recover from the effects of COVID-19 in our community. Discover Green Bay is fully committed to doing everything we can to support our partners and bring more visitor spending to our region.”