107.5FM WCCN The Rock - The Coolest Station in the Nation
ESPN 92.3FM WOSQ
92.7FM WPKG
Memories 1370AM 98.5FM
98.7FM / 1450AM WDLB - Timeless Classics
Listen Live: 107.5 THE ROCK • 92.7 FM
Family owned radio stations serving all of Central Wisconsin

Wisconsin's Outdoor Recreation Industry Contributed Record-Setting $8.7 Billion to State's Gross Domestic Product

Monday, December 19th, 2022 -- 9:01 AM

Gov. Tony Evers, together with Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary-designee Anne Sayers and Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation Director Mary Monroe Brown, announced that annual data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation industry contributed a record-setting $8.7 billion to the state’s gross domestic product in 2021.

Additionally, Wisconsin’s outdoor economy grew by 14.1 percent, more than three times faster than the state’s overall economy, which grew by 4.6 percent. Key findings of the report show Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation industry supported nearly 90,000 jobs across various sectors in 2021, with a growth rate of 9.7 percent compared to 2.4 percent for all jobs.

Manufacturing jobs accounted for 10 percent of all outdoor recreation jobs in each of the last two years, ranking Wisconsin fourth in the country. Despite supply chain issues during the pandemic, manufacturing jobs continued to grow from 2019 to 2021, increasing by 11 percent.

The data also show travel and tourism, as well as local trips, account for nearly $2.8 billion of outdoor recreation’s contributions to Wisconsin’s GDP. In 2020, Wisconsin was one of only seven states to see an increase in economic impact from local outdoor recreation-related trips.

In 2021, the economic impact of local trips grew even more, increasing by 7.2 percent to $771 million. The Office of Outdoor Recreation was created at the Department of Tourism by Gov. Evers in 2019 and serves as a central hub for Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation industry, working with stakeholders and providing resources to bolster Wisconsin as a top outdoor recreation destination.

Last month, the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation released Live + Work Where You Play: Outside in Wisconsin, a free, 16-page publication to assist businesses and organizations with recruitment and talent attraction.

The tool leverages the state’s outdoor recreation culture, industry, and abundant offerings to give Wisconsin employers an edge over the competition in the job market. The free resource is one of many available on the Office’s website, along with educational webinars, a research library, and a first-of-its-kind outdoor business directory to help businesses and organizations connect.

In Wisconsin, fishing was one of the categories that grew in 2020 and again in 2021. According to the new data, the top categories within outdoor recreation’s contributions to Wisconsin’s GDP were:

  • Multi-use apparel and accessories: $961 million;
  • Motorcycling and ATVing: $882 million, number one nationally;
  • Boating and Fishing: $602 million;
  • And Bicycling: $451 million, number two nationally.

Nationally, the outdoor recreation economy accounted for 1.9 percent and $454 billion of GDP and grew 18.9 percent compared to 5.9 percent for the overall U.S. economy. The top three categories were boating and fishing, RV traveling, and hunting, shooting, and trapping.

For the national report and state-level data and tables, visit the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account section of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis website at: https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/outdoor-recreation.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.