Wisconsin tourism industry generated $879 million in state tax revenue

A Milwaukee Brewers playoff run and a giant Harley-Davidson birthday party helped boost tourism spending in Wisconsin last year, state officials said on Monday. The tourist spending in Wisconsin has been increased by nearly 5 percent in 2018, to $13.3 billion. The state saw 112 million visitors, which was 2 million more than it had in 2017. Visitation has now grown by at least 2 percent in each of the past five years.Kristina LeVan, a Department of Tourism in Wisconsin spokeswoman, said several large events drew visitors to Wisconsin last year, including the Brewers first playoff games in seven years and Harley-Davidson’s days-long 115th anniversary celebration in Milwaukee in late August and early September.She noted that Madison hosted the CrossFit Games and speculated that large numbers of golfers may have visited Wisconsin to play the Erin Hills course, which hosted the 2017 U.S. Open. Golfers typically travel to courses that hold major events to experience playing on them, she said.