High Gas Prices A Boon To Some Wisconsin Tourist Stops

WAUSAU, Wis. -- The summer looked like it could be a bad one for Wisconsin tourism with a faltering economy, high gas prices and June flooding.

But a check of some major destinations found little evidence of gloom and doom as Labor Day neared.

One Door County resort had what a manager called a "phenomenal" season, and quarterly room taxes were up $6,000 through June in the playground of Minocqua, Arbor Vitae and Woodruff.

Tourism Secretary Kelli Trumble said the summer got off to a "rocky start." But she said July and August were busy months, at least for the major destinations.

But camping reservations were down 2 percent at state parks through July, compared to a year ago. Parks administrator Kimberly Currie attributed some of that to the closing of Devils Lake State Park for nearly three weeks because of the flooding.

Currie said there's still time for the state's 60 parks with 4,600 camping spots to recover.