July 2022

BridgeUSA (J-1) Summer Work Travel students excitedly add a pin to their home country after meeting with SSA staff to apply for their Social Security Cards at our Sign-up Days event in Ephraim on Thursday.

Dear Phil,

Hard to believe that in a few days we celebrate our Country’s Independence! Happy 4^th of July to everyone! I can’t wait to experience the parades and celebrations that will be taking place!

We are so fortunate to live in Door County where we have so many events and activities to choose from throughout the year along with enjoying all our wonderful restaurants! A big shout out to our J-1 Visa Summer workers along with ALL our hospitality employees who work extremely hard throughout the season to ensure our visitor’s expectations are met and exceeded.

We continue to tell the story of Destination Door County to our stakeholders including presenting to our County Supervisors during their June meeting. We appreciate having the opportunity to highlight what we are doing and sharing our Tourism Economic Impact Study from 2021.   Last year was a very busy year, and more money than ever flowed through our local economy because of tourism.   

We also hosted a fun mixer at One Barrel Brewing with so many people attending making it a perfect way to start the season! 

We have started to work with the Tourism Zone Commission on building out our strategic plan for 2023 and beyond with four DDC Board members and four Tourism Zone Commissioners. We will also be working closely with our Community Business Association partners as their contributions to our planning process is essential. It is such a great way to continue building collaboration and developing opportunities that can benefit all throughout Door County.

I plan on being out and about a lot this summer and I would love to meet all of you!  I'm Looking forward to it!

Julie L. Gilbert CDME CTP

President & CEO

Destination Door County

Julie@DoorCounty.com

Customer Communications Training

Monday, July 18th from 3:00-4:00 PM

Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion

7845 Church St, Egg Harbor, WI 54209

Customers Behaving Badly?  Learn How To Respond!

Working with the public can be both fun and rewarding - until you encounter a challenging customer.  It’s in moments like these that a little extra training goes a long way to save the day - and your reputation.  

If you or your employees work in the customer service sector, you can get the support you need by signing up for this FREE TRAINING to get experience with how to respectfully respond and de-escalate challenging situations.   -Training brought to you by The Door County Civility Project.

or call 920-746-1786 (Door County Community Foundation)

Economic Impact of Tourism in

Door County

DDC commissioned an economic impact study from Tourism Economics on tourism in Door County for 2021, which was released in June. The report confirmed that 2021 was a banner year for tourism in Door County. A few highlights from our updated economic impact fact sheet include direct visitor spending of $423 million last year, an increase of 39% over the pandemic year of 2020, but also up nearly 14% compared to 2019. Tourism generated $42.7 million in state and local taxes and supported a total of 3,323 jobs in Door County last year, while local tourism industry workers brought in $102.5 million in wages. An interesting note: each occupied household in Door County would need to be taxed an additional $3,175 to replace the visitor taxes received by state and local governments in 2021.

Find more details about the economic impact of tourism in our 2021 economic impact fact sheet. For additional insight, view the full comprehensive report by Tourism Economics.

Door County in the Media

A few recent media hits for Door County include: 

• Midwest Living magazine’s Summer 2022 issue includes an 8-page feature story about Door County headlined “Unlocking The Door.” Check out the online version of the story by travel journalist Lauren Sieben on MidwestLiving.com.
• Travel + Leisure included Door County in a recent story headlined “5 Charming Small Towns Within a 2-hour Drive of Big Cities” by travel journalist Rebecca Deurlein. Read the online story on TravelandLeisure.com.
• US News & World Report included Door County in a recent story titled “23 Top Things to Do in Wisconsin” by writer Andrea Guthmann. Read the story online on USnews.com.
• The Matador Network included Door County in a story published May 17, 2022 headlined “7 Affordable Summer Vacations To Take This Year, From the Caribbean To Montana”. Check out the story on MatadorNetwork.com.
• Midwest Living online included Door County’s Newport State Park in a story published on 5/17/2022 headlined “The Best Midwest Stargazing Destinations.” Read the story on MidwestLiving.com.

Winter Events Wanted

We are currently in the process of compiling event information for the Calendar of Events featured in the 2022-2023 Door County Winter Guide. If you have an event planned between November 1st and April 1st, please e-mail the following event details to cathy@doorcounty.com by July 18th.

BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel News

Social Security Sign-Up Days

The BridgeUSA (J-1) Summer Work Travel program creates opportunities for students from around the world to experience life in the United States - while earning money for school & travel during their summer break. This year we made it possible for 263 students to meet with SSA in Ephraim, instead of Green Bay, saving local employers 39,000 miles of driving - $7,800 in gas and 1,560 hours in the car (That's 39 40hr-weeks!) Best of all, we saw a LOT of smiles!

Looking for one more Door County Social Security Sign-up Day in July?

We were pleased to learn that - if there is enough need and interest - the SSA office in Green Bay will work with us to set up one more event in July -.but I NEED to HEAR from YOU! Please email your Number of Students & Arrival Dates to Phil@DoorCounty.com to help support and plan an ideal date for our request.

Summer Work Travel is a Win/Win for Door County

With workforce shortage affecting everyone, having international exchange visitors who are eager to work during our busiest months often mean the difference between being able to exceed customer expectations or having to unexpectedly close in peak season. We are grateful to see program participation return to Door County so strongly, as 516 exchange visitors join forces with their American counterparts to provide support in more than 1,000 seasonal positions throughout our communities this summer.

The top reason we're seeing this strong growth is accredited to the quality experiences our students are having here, and they're returning home to tell friends and family to choose Door County over the allure of destinations closer to "New York or California." It's through our collective efforts that students feel welcomed, safe, and valued here, while often dispelling years, if not generations, of misperceptions perpetuated by the narrow lens of news reports and movies. There is so much we can learn from each other. Take a moment to introduce yourself - thank them for being here - and look for ways to learn from each other.  

J-1 Visa/BridgeUSA Student Ride-Share Arrival/Departure Calendar

Add pick-up and drop-off times to this shared calendar to help identify opportunities for ride-sharing to/from airports or bus terminals.  View Arrival/Departure Calendar HERE.