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Wisconsin hit record-breaking tourism numbers for 2025 according to a new report.

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It was the fourth year in a row that it broke the previous high.

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But a tourism boom is often accompanied by workforce challenges, with many areas relying

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on seasonal workers visiting with temporary visas.

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So far this year, Wisconsin has received a fraction of the short-term workers with an

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H-2B visa that it has in the past.

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To see how the industry is faring this year, we turn to John Jarsh, Chief Communications

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Officer for Destination Door County.

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John, thanks for joining us.

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Good to be with you.

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Thank you.

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I think it's fair to say that a lot of people will associate door county with rest, relaxation,

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putting all your worries behind you.

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I wonder what these staffing shortages, how these door-counting tourism businesses are

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feeling right now.

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Yeah, we've certainly had a few challenges with some of the H-2B visas that our workers

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and our employers have been trying to get.

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Because we really ramp up in the summertime, as a lot of viewers may know, it takes a

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lot more workers than we have that live here to be able to operate our businesses and to

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maintain a level of service that I think most people have come to expect when they visit

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door county.

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And so our business owners have had to go to alternative methods to find enough workers

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to fill those needs.

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And the primary one that we use here is the Summer Work Travel Program, or a J-1 visa.

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That's a fairly common one that programs have been around for a long, long time.

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And a more recent one that is used is what you suggested or said is the H-2B visa.

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The numbers of H-2B workers that we've had in the last couple of years, pale in comparison

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to the number of J-1 visas that are here in door county.

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And so, but nevertheless, the H-2B visa is an important one for some of our businesses

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because those folks can stay longer.

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They're not students, unlike the J-1 students that are here.

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They have to be a student in order to qualify for a J-1 visa.

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So that means they're here for only a couple of months.

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And door county season now is a good five, six months line at that peak season.

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And so, some of our businesses have turned to the H-2B visa option, H-2B visa option,

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because they can stay longer and they can stay through the entire season to make sure

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that they're being covered.

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And we have enough workforce through the fall season in October and in November.

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Okay, so there are other parts of the state maybe where the season is shorter

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and the shorter visas work.

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But the H-2B visas are more critical in door county because it has a longer season.

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Is that right?

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Yeah, that's correct.

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And our season has expanded here in the last 10, 20 years in door county.

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Really, for a long time, it was Memorial Day to Labor Day.

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But that is no longer the case.

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And so, you know, again, the J-1 visas this year were probably going to be

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in the neighborhood of about 560 of the summer work travel students.

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And last year, I think we had maybe 85 to 90 H-2B visa workers that were in the county.

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So again, much smaller numbers, but increasingly businesses have looked to that as an alternative

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to make sure that they have coverage longer in the season instead of that

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three months that those collegiate students that are here on the J-1 visa can stay.

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So why have they slowed down these visas?

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There's a couple of reasons.

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Certainly, we're unsure exactly why.

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I know there's been some challenges with some of the consulates.

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There is actually a cap on the H-2B visa.

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And so when that cap has reached a lot of times businesses that may have put in

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a request for some H-2B visa holders and to come and work, the cap has hit.

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And those are no longer available.

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There's also a lottery system that is in play.

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And if you draw a poor lottery number, I don't know exactly how that system works,

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but your chances of getting an H-2B worker are really slim, if not none.

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And so again, it's a much smaller percentage of our workforce here.

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It's relatively new.

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And so what we're learning this year is really what the needs of our constituents,

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our employers, the businesses that have relied on them.

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So we can use that to help better advocate here in the next year moving forward.

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The process to get either a J-1 visa student or an H-2B is quite lengthy.

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It takes a long time.

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And so it's not something that you can just do over the course of a week or two.

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And so we'll start to plan and our advocacy efforts we'll cook in later this summer,

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probably going into the fall when those processes need to start for the summer of 2027 already.

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And so we're learning and we're certainly going to be reaching out.

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It's a federal issue since those visas are at a federal level, not at a state level.

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And I'm sure we will talk amongst our tourism industry peers across the state of Wisconsin

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to figure out how we can better work together to advocate for the needs of our tourism industry

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from an employee standpoint, in particular with these visas.

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So real quick, as we wrap up here with a lot of travelers staying closer to home

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due to high gas prices, can local destinations like yours handle another record-breaking year?

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Yes, the short answer.

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And in Door County, I'm very confident that we can.

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Because of our seasonal nature, we are comprised of entrepreneurs up and down this peninsula

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and on Washington Island. And they always figure out a way to make it work one way or another.

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They may have to reduce ours a little bit to accommodate maybe a reduced workforce to some extent,

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but rest assured, people can expect the same great service that they have or that they're used to

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when they come to Door County. And it is shaping up, I think, to be another great summer.

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Door County is a great place, really close to home, and yet it feels like you're a world

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away when you're here. And we're anticipating another good year here in Door County,

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and look forward to welcoming everyone.

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All right, we'll leave it there. Thanks so much for joining us.

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My pleasure.

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All right, thank you.

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Yeah, you're very welcome. I'm sorry I didn't get a few more

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expletives in my comments. I should have. I'll have to work on that for next time.

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It's good for the internet shorts. I'm teasing. I'm teasing. All right, thanks so much,

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you guys. I appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of your day and have a good weekend.

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All right, thanks. You too.