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$4 gasoline a boon to some Wisconsin tourist stops

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — One northern Wisconsin summer attraction found $4-a-gallon gasoline a boon for summer business.

“We got a lot more people from Minnesota this year. Maybe they weren’t going to California or Texas or whatever,” said Duane Domaszek, co-owner of Wildwood Wildlife Center of Minocqua, a zoo with one of biggest animal encounter areas in the Upper Midwest. “We have been all right.”

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” in June, when up to 16 inches of rain flooded dozens of southern Wisconsin counties — including tourism mecca Wisconsin Dells where Lake Delton overflowed and drained. The perception was the whole state was under water.

But July and August were busy months, at least for the major destinations, Trumble said.

“What we have found is vacationing and getting away is something that people are not willing to compromise on, especially in these times,” she said. “They need that getaway to refresh and recharge and reconnect with family.”