Gov. Tony Evers, together with Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers and Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation Director Mary Monroe Brown, announced in a press release today that the latest release of data from the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation industry contributed a record-breaking $9.8 billion to the state’s gross domestic product in 2022, growing 6.8% over the previous record set in 2021.
The report showed it was the highest contribution by the outdoor recreation sector since 2018, when the BEA started measuring the industry’s economic impact and releasing the figures annually. Among the recreation industry’s record-breaking topline metrics were the industry’s 2.5% share of Wisconsin’s GDP (up 0.1%); support of 94,042 jobs (up 4.8%); state employment makeup of 3.1% (up 0.1%); and employee compensation of $4.7 billion. The contribution from Wisconsin’s motorcycling/ATVing sector totaled over $1 billion, ranking first among all states.
Notably, travel and tourism, as well as local trips (trips less than 50 miles) associated with outdoor recreation, grew to nearly $3 billion in 2022, increasing by 14.2% and 8.7%, respectively.
Additional information on Wisconsin’s outdoor industry can be found on the Office of Outdoor Recreation website. âFor 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 here.
