State tourism spending up, but new jobs few, study finds

Tourism spending increased 7.6 percent in Wisconsin in 2011, but the industry created few new jobs, and some of the state's most popular northern destinations saw decreases in spending.
Those are among the results of the state's annual study on tourism spending released Friday by Gov. Scott Walker, who made job creation a pillar of his administration.

According to results of the study conducted by Longwoods International and Tourism Economics, tourism spending was $9.8 billion in 2011, up from $9.2 billion in 2010. Tourism had a $16 billion economic impact to the state, an increase of 8 percent from the $14.8 billion in 2010.

"Tourism is a core industry in Wisconsin," said Walker, who made stops Friday in Green Bay, Wausau and Eau Claire to announce the numbers. "The data released today shows that the investment we've made in tourism marketing has enhanced the image of the state."

But despite the increases, employment rose just 0.42 percent to 181,369 jobs. Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett said one in every 13 jobs in the state is sustained by tourism activity, but employers — many of them small businesses — may be hesitant to add more workers because of the economy.