If tourism in Brown County did not exist, in theory, each household would have to pay an additional $613 per year in taxes to make up the money it brings into the community.
That’s one of the many findings coming out of a 2017 economic impact study conducted by the state’s tourism department.
The study is done on an annual basis, but it costs counties around $5,000 to receive results. Brown County hadn’t participated in the study since 2013.
Jane Ellis, executive director of the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau, presented the findings to the Brown County Convention and Visitors Commission at their meeting this month.
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“We talked about it for Maple Leaf (Performing Arts Center) to try to do it for the next few years to have a baseline and we can see the changes in spending and what’s happening,” she said.
In Brown County, $42.7 million was generated in tourism spending in 2017, which is up 10.9 percent over 2016.
Of that total spending, $22.5 million was on lodging and $6.4 million on food and beverage.
The economic impact of tourism in Brown County was $22.6 million.
The direct economic impact was $17.2 million. This is money that came directly from visitors.
The indirect impact of tourism was $3.3 million, which is money going to suppliers for products being bought here.
In 2017, $20.1 million of money earned through tourism in Brown County went outside of the county, the report states.
“The leakage is I have a business here, I bring all my money in here, but I am taking my money outside of the county. Either I’m buying my product outside of the county or I’m spending my grocery money (outside of the county). It’s expenses I pay that don’t stay in the county. That is a number the CVB can’t control,” Ellis said. “… We don’t have Wal-Marts. We’re very limited in what we have here. I am not surprised that leakage continues to grow.”
In 2013, Brown County ranked 56th out of the 92 counties in tourism growth. For 2017, Brown County moved to 11th in growth.
“We’ve made a huge increase there, big improvements there,” Ellis said.
Tourism is the second-largest industry in Brown County, behind local government, which is No. 1.
For every dollar spent by visitors in Brown County, 53 cents is returned to the local area, according to the study done by Rockport Analytics.
“It’s nice to see those numbers. There are those out in the community who like to completely bash tourism in Brown County and how it has such a negative impact on the county,” CVC member Derek Clifford said.
He said he is in favor of the CVB continuing to participate in the study because it provides data that is not easily accessible. “Especially considering the rest of the studies we spend money on, it’s well worth the money,” he said.
Ellis said one of the goals of participating in the study was to see how Brown County was doing compared to the rest of the state.
Lodging grew by 10.7 percent from 2016 to 2017. Lodging expenditures are up over $5 million when compared to 2013, Ellis said.
She said she was waiting to get confirmation from the state on whether or not campgrounds were included in that number, because taking 5 percent of the amount of money being spent on tourism does not equal what is being brought in from innkeepers tax. Campgrounds do not have to pay innkeepers tax.
“If that’s lodging here in the county, that’s saying there’s people out there renting we’re not getting innkeepers tax off of unless it’s incorporating other elements of it (like campgrounds),” she said.
Ellis attributed some of the growth in tourism to Big Woods restaurants and the Hard Truth Hills distillery.
“We get caught in the day-to-day struggles and challenges, but if you look back, there’s really been a lot of exciting things going on over the years. I look back to the cultural district designation and the leaf sculpture that went in,” she said. “There’s just been a good synergy building over the last couple of years … (like with) the mountain biking industry. I think it will come together and come to a head with Maple Leaf.”
CVC Vice President Patty Frensemeier said she had heard from innkeepers and shopkeepers that they thought business was down in 2018. Ellis said she has not heard about business being down as much from innkeepers, but more from retailers.
However, according to the report, retail saw a growth of 11.3 percent in 2017 over 2016. “Research-wise, it’s not showing that it is down. I’ve heard some people say yes, it’s been bad, and some say they’ve had banner years,” Ellis said.
CVC member Barry Herring owns the Brown County Inn. He said his hotel revenue was up even though they were closed for two weeks in January. He said his restaurant was “way up.”
CVC President Kevin Ault said lodging was up at both of his hotels, the Seasons and Hotel Nashville. He also owns two tourist homes, which were up between 15 and 16 percent for 2018 over 2017.
Clifford, an owner of Rawhide Ranch, said that 2018 was “a terrible year weather-wise all the way around,” and that affected horseback riding and other activity sales at his property. However, lodging remained about even, and corporate outings were up. “That’s been a target focus on advertising for us,” he said.
According to the report, $2.7 million was generated from entertainment and recreation in 2017 as part of the $42.7 million. The remaining revenue sources were $4.3 million generated from shopping and $6.8 million from transportation.
