(The Center Square) – Outdoor recreation brought $11.2 billion into Wisconsin’s economy in 2023, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
That’s 9.4% higher than the $9.8 billion reported in 2022.
The sector contributed 2.6% of Wisconsin’s gross domestic product, 3.2% of the state’s overall employment and $5.4 billion in employee compensation, according to the report.
“Outdoor recreation is a powerful tool to create vibrant and thriving communities, to improve the health of our residents, and to drive economic impact statewide,” Office of Outdoor Recreation Director Cassie Mordini said in a statement. “This growing sector has shown its resiliency in the face of challenges by continuing to grow, and our charge is to harness this potential for Wisconsin.”
While economists are often skeptical of economic impact claims, like those related to overall tourism in the state, the BEA research is respected by economists contacted by The Center Square.
“It looks like a typically thorough report by the BEA on the aggregate level of economic impacts of outdoor recreation on the national and state-level economies, together with some disaggregation of different recreation activities and economic sectors that contribute to the effects,” said Ash Morgan, director of the Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis at Appalachian State University.
Morgan said outdoor recreation continues to outstrip other sectors, on average, in terms of the impact on a state’s economy.
The report broke down sectors by activity and found the top categories to be Multi-use apparel and accessories ($1.3 billion), motorcycling/ATVing ($1.1 billion), boating/fishing ($928 million), RVing ($464 million), games areas ($499 million), guided tours/outfitted travel ($450 million), hunting/shooting ($320 million) and bicycling ($157 million).
“For Wisconsin, the breakdown of economic impacts by activity type provides important baseline feedback,” Morgan said. “This can help the state understand the relative attractiveness of different activities to outdoor recreators across the state and help motivate policy towards pursuing further funding to augment the existing outdoor recreation infrastructure.
“The breakdown of impacts by economic sectors also helps identify the key recreation-related industries that contribute to gross state product, employment, and labor income.”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers pushed making the Office of Outdoor Recreation permanent with $1.1 million and three full-time positions, provisions that were removed from the budget by the Legislature and instead were inserted as one-time funding.
“The new BEA data highlights outdoor recreation as a cornerstone of our economy, generating jobs, supporting small businesses, and providing essential opportunities for Americans to engage with the outdoors for health, connection, and quality of life,” said Outdoor Recreation Roundtable President Jessica Turner.