Members of Door County's Tourism Zone Commission had some positive numbers to review at Thursday's meeting. Room tax collections in 2012 are up 10.7% compared to last year at this time.
"We're having a great year," says Egg Harbor Village Administrator and Tourism Zone Commission chair Josh Van Lieshout.
Although the numbers are from just the first half of the year, Van Lieshout calls it "outstanding" news...
The unadjusted numbers through June 2012 show occupancy rates are up about 5.7% compared to last year.
Van Lieshout says the figures seem to jibe with what he's been seeing and hearing...
Room tax collections were bolstered by not only by an increase in room occupancy but a boost in room rates, with the average daily rate going from $122 in June 2011 to $127 in June 2012.
Van Lieshout says he thinks several factors are responsible for the uptick in tourism, including good work done by the Door County Visitor Bureau in "getting the word out" about the county, having a relatively close proximity to major urban areas like Milwaukee and Chicago, and having a lot of other great public assets, including five state parks and the county park system.
