Tourism to Coulee Region picking up again, especially for outdoor activities

Whether it’s biking, hunting or going on the river, outdoor recreation appears to be the biggest draw for visitors to the Coulee Region.

That finding comes from a series of studies conducted over the past two years, when COVID-19 sharply cut into travel and tourism started rising again. 

UW-La Crosse recreation management professor Dan Plunkett said La Crosse is helped by being conveniently located near people living in the upper Midwest.

Plunkett added that the area attracts visitors from as far as 350 miles away.

“Typically, we look at travelers to La Crosse, the majority of them come from Minneapolis, Chicago area, anywhere in-between,” he said. “We saw that people were really looking to travel more regionally, so fewer bigger trips, or no bigger trips, staying closer to home, regional travel, stay-cations.”

Plunkett’s most recent study was done back in May.