Photo: Door County Tourism
DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – Fall is coming after a slower than usual summer for one of Wisconsin’s most popular tourist destinations.
A summer pandemic changed things for a lot of businesses across the state. Many offered outside services, which was fine for many locations in Door County.
“Overall, given the scope of everything going on in the world, we were a little bit more fortunate here in Door County in terms of traffic and visitors compared to some destinations around the country,” said Destination Door County Communications Director Jon Jarosh. “Part of our messaging was to make sure that people that were here were visiting responsibly, not only to protect themselves, but also our tourism workforce and our residents that are here…I think that worked out really well, all things considered, and certainly we’re really doing our best to try to encourage outdoor activities. We’re very fortunate here in Door County because we have so many outdoor activities.”
Jarosh said, anecdotally, things were certainly not like last summer or other popular times in the area – but says the ability to offer outdoor experiences amid the pandemic was a big plus.
“We’ve been seeing a trend towards more of that anyway, and obviously this year with it being a really a necessity, we saw a lot of places add more outdoor seating,” Jarosh said. “When the pandemic is in the rear view mirror for most of us, hopefully, I think a lot of business practices that some businesses came up with just to get by this year are going to stick around.”
As the summer turns over into fall, the demographic of visitors to Door County tends to shift as well. But Jarosh was cautiously optimistic about having a decent season – as there are still two months of busy time, which is usually good for Door County tourism.
“I think people are used to it being a little chillier in the fall and yet still exploring the outdoors that we’ve got, especially with our beautiful fall colors and some of the great outdoor activities. We’re hopeful that sweatshirt sales will be robust this fall while people are here,” Jarosh told WTAQ News. “Some of our restaurants have actually added tents over some of their outdoor seating areas, and with the prevalence of those outdoor heaters I think we’ll see more of those to still allow people to be outside and a little bit more comfortable as the temperatures tend to cool off.”
Approximately 80-percent of the area’s lodging activity for the year comes in the summer and fall seasons. Jarosh recommends for anyone who may be planning to visit to book a reservation ahead of time due to a steady demand for rooms – especially on weekends.
“We’re certainly ready to welcome visitors, continuing those safety practices we’ve had in place since the end of May. And we hope for a nice mild fall temperature trend and certainly lots of great fall colors here in Door County,” Jarosh said.
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