Crawford County Tourism
Visitors to Crawford County can have a blast at the myriad of numerous attractions, events and outdoor activities throughout the county each year. Above is the War of 1812 battle fought in Prairie du Chien each July. (Courier Press file photo)
Tourism has huge economic impact on Crawford County
By Ted Pennekamp
Tourism has been and continues to be a huge part of the economy of Southwest Wisconsin and Crawford County. In fact, direct visitor spending in a nine-county region including Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Pepin, Pierce, Trempealeau and Vernon counties totaled a whopping $832.5 million in 2016, according to Wisconsin Department of Tourism statistics. Tourism expenditures in the region was $814.9 million in 2015.
Direct visitor spending in Crawford County in 2014 was $41.8 million. In 2015, it was $43.8 million. In 2016, it was $42.9 million.
Tourism-visitor business sales in Crawford County was $60 million in 2014. It was $62.8 million in 2015. In 2016, it was $62.6 million, which is a small decrease of .23 percent from the previous year, according to the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission (MRRPC) Annual Report.
Tourism-visitor business sales is defined as revenue from visitor recreation, lodging, restaurants, attractions and visitor expenditures traced to food wholesalers, farmers, utilities, marketing and publishing, plus the resulting ripple effect of tourism employee spending, according to the MRRPC.
Tourist-visitor business sales in Vernon County was $54.8 million in 2015. It was $57.1 million in 2016. In La Crosse County it was $387.8 million in 2015, and $405.7 in 2016.
In the state of Wisconsin, tourist-visitor business sales went from $19.29 billion in 2015 to $19.97 billion in 2016, an increase of 4 percent.
Total labor income for Crawford County due to tourism was $11.7 million in 2014. In 2015, it was $12.1 million. It was $12.1 million again in 2016.
Visitors to Crawford County generated state and local taxes totalling $5.6 million in 2014, $5.7 million in 2015, and $5.6 million in 2016.
Tourism’s $19.97 billion impact on the state’s economy in 2016 is up $700 million, or 3.5 percent from $19.29 billion in 2015. The total six-year growth of tourism activity is up more than $5.2 billion, a 35 percent increase from $14.8 billion.
Visitor growth topped $107.7 million in 2016, a six-year increase of $15.2 million.
International travel in 2016 was up $100 million over 2015.
Wisconsin’s tourism economy generated $1.5 billion in state and local revenue and $1.1 billion in federal taxes.
Each household in Wisconsin would need to be taxed an additional $650 per year to replace the revenue tourism generates for state and local governments.
Tourism directly and indirectly supports 193,500 jobs in Wisconsin, a six-year addition of more than 21,500 jobs to the state’s total employment.
The tourism economy supports 35 percent of all recreation jobs and 23 percent of all food and beverage jobs in Wisconsin.
Several organizations, including Driftless Wisconsin, the newly formed Driftless Development, Hidden Valleys, and many others, promote tourism in Crawford County and the region.
Eric Frydenlund, the administrator of Driftless Wisconsin, said Driftless Wisconsin will be doing another advertising campaign this year to promote tourism. The advertising campaign will be funded by investments from the Crawford County Tourism Council, Vernon County Tourism Council and the Vernon County Tourism Committee, which is a committee of county government.
“We expect the $12,000 campaign to focus on our primary tourism markets of Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago. Last year’s campaign saw a significant increase in visits to our website from those markets,” said Frydenlund. “In addition to the ad campaign, we’ll be distributing our Driftless Wisconsin brochure to a wider area, including businesses and travel centers along the southeastern Wisconsin interstate system. We have printed 40,000 brochures to accommodate the larger distribution.”
Driftless Wisconsin will be hosting the its Spring Kickoff at the Dousman House in Prairie du Chien on April 26 at 5 p.m.
“We’ll be talking about our marketing initiatives and organizational goals as well as having some fun with entertainment provided by Patchouli, featuring master guitarist Bruce Hecksel and singer-songwriter, guitarist Julie Patchouli,” said Frydenlund.
“Tourism is such an important part of our local economy. It represents a substantial factor in reducing our ‘trade deficit,’ bringing visitor spending into the area that recirculates to all retail and service businesses, not just the tourism sector,” Frydenlund continuted.
The Crawford County Tourism Council, a standing committee of Community Development Alternatives, has done an outstanding job of promoting Crawford County, said Frydenlund. It not only advertises through Driftless Wisconsin, but also distributes its own Crawford County Outdoor “Go To” Guide and invests in county recreational assets, such as canoe landings and directional signage. And, of course, the Driftless Area Art Festival, also an initiative of CDA, brings in thousands of visitors to its annual fall event in Soldiers Grove.
