Where Wisconsin's tourism industry is hiring

About the only thing holding back Wisconsin's $20 billion a year tourism industry is a familiar refrain facing state businesses: finding enough qualified workers.

That means employers are taking an approach not always associated with the hospitality field.

"We're not just going to have competitive wages, we're going to create a culture of inclusiveness and support and our people, even the line staff, are going to share the rewards," said Dennis Doucette, who is aiming to hire 150 people at the newly renovated Hotel Retlaw in Fond du Lac.

Doucette, principal partner of Legendary Hotels, is confident those jobs will be filled by the time the full-service luxury hotel opens this fall. Growth in the industry is fueling the demand for more hotel rooms.

"Fond du Lac has grown beyond what the hotels themselves can accommodate," he said. "Look to book a room for EAA, for instance, over the summer, the hotels in Fond du Lac are all sold out."

Tourism supported 193,454 jobs in 2016, up about 5 percent from roughly 185,000 in 2013, according to annual figures from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism (numbers for 2017 will be released this spring). With both visitor spending and jobs on the increase, so is the need for workers.

“The one challenge for the entire state of Wisconsin is jobs,” said Stephanie Klett, who heads the state’s department of tourism. “If anything is holding us back right now, it’s competing for the workforce.”

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The industry is the focus of the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism at the new Fox Cities Exhibition Center in Appleton Monday and Tuesday. Employment – and subsequently, in some areas like the Dells and Door County, worker housing - is one of the issues at heart for the industry as it moves toward busy warm-weather tourism season.

Klett said there are several partnerships between business, state and local government focused on helping fill open jobs that can be parlayed into long-term careers. Overall, growth in the industry is forecasted to be strong:

Jobs expected to grow by 2024 include recreation workers (10 percent); food preparation (9 percent); lodging managers (8.4 percent); amusement and recreation attendants (8 percent); and protective jobs like lifeguards, ski patrol (7 percent), according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

recreation workers (10 percent); food preparation (9 percent); lodging managers (8.4 percent); amusement and recreation attendants (8 percent); and protective jobs like lifeguards, ski patrol (7 percent), according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. At 49,996, food and beverage jobs account for the highest total of tourism-related jobs followed by lodging at 33,080 and recreation and entertainment at 25,589.

of tourism-related jobs followed by lodging at 33,080 and recreation and entertainment at 25,589. Total tourism business sales in Wisconsin hit $20 billion in 2016 with visitor spending increasing 3.3 percent from the previous year. Visitor spending has been on the increase for the past seven years.

with visitor spending increasing 3.3 percent from the previous year. Visitor spending has been on the increase for the past seven years. One in 12.3 jobs – or about 8 percent of the total workforce - in the state is tied to tourism.

“The need is everywhere,” Klett said. “You can enter the workforce with limited skills or limited experience so there’s room for house cleaning and food preparation, but also management.”