Destination Door County
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1851
- HeadquartersSturgeon Bay, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
Destination Door County firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Destination Door County
- Legal name
- Destination Door County
- Website
- https://doorcounty.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1851
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Destination Door County industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Tourism Marketing Services
- NAICS
- Tour Operators (561520)
- SIC
- Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Permitting, Reservations & Visitor Information Services (Passes, Booking, Visitor Centers) (THAAAGAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Full-Service Destination Management (Ground Handling & Onsite Operations) (THAHADAA)
Keywords
Where Destination Door County is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sturgeon Bay
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Destination Door County business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Room Tax Administration: The organization's Community Investment Fund is funded through an 8% room tax on short-term rentals, administered by the Door County Tourism Zone Commission. This room tax revenue is then reinvested into local community projects through grant programs.
- Partnership and Marketing Services: Free partnership program for Door County businesses with optional paid marketing opportunities including the Official Destination Guide, Winter Activity Guide, and Co-Op Marketing Program.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | — | Free Partnership Program |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Destination Door County product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Destination Door County is a non-profit destination marketing and management organization (DMO) that promotes Door County, Wisconsin as a tourism destination. It operates DoorCounty.com — a tourism platform featuring a business directory of 1,200+ local businesses, an events calendar, lodging booking through Book>Direct, AI-powered trip planning tools, and themed visitor guides — and administers a free Business Partnership Program plus paid co-op marketing, alongside the Community Investment Fund grant program funded through an 8% room tax on short-term rentals.
Product overview
Destination Door County operates a unified tourism marketing platform (DoorCounty.com) that serves as the primary digital destination for Door County visitors. The core platform integrates lodging search and booking capabilities, an event calendar, and a business directory. Additional product modules include the Gift Certificates program, themed Visitor Guides, the Community Investment Fund grant program, Cooperative Marketing Program, Accessibility Assessment Program (in partnership with Wheel the World), an email newsletter, and the JobsInDoorCounty.com job board. These complementary offerings create a comprehensive visitor and business support ecosystem for the Door County destination.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- DoorCounty.com Tourism Platform Comprehensive tourism destination platform providing a visitor-facing website with lodging search, an events calendar, a searchable business directory of 1,200+ local businesses, trip-planning tools, an AI-powered Ask AI assistant, and integrations for booking (Book>Direct), weather forecasts, and consent management; built for leisure travelers planning trips to Door County and for partner businesses seeking visibility.
- Business Partnership Program Free partnership program open to all Door County businesses that includes a directory listing on DoorCounty.com, inclusion in the events calendar, access to partner resources and newsletters, and eligibility for co-op marketing opportunities; intended for local tourism-serving businesses seeking coordinated destination marketing exposure.
- Cooperative Marketing Program Paid marketing partnership program enabling local Door County businesses to collaborate on destination marketing campaigns, including Official Destination Guide advertising, Winter Activity Guide advertising, and Co-Op campaign opportunities; aimed at businesses seeking greater reach beyond the free partnership listing.
- Accessibility Assessment Program Comprehensive accessibility evaluation service for Door County businesses, parks, and cultural institutions, delivered in partnership with Wheel the World; provides detailed assessments across 200+ accessibility data points per location covering building access, parking, pathways, seating, signage, and restrooms.
- Community Investment Fund Grant program that funds Door County community projects using revenue from the 8% room tax on short-term rentals administered by the Door County Tourism Zone Commission; has distributed over $3.1 million to 59 local projects since May 2023 across 11 grant cycles, including $370,747 to seven projects in the latest round.
- Door County Gift Certificates Digital gift certificate program enabling visitors to purchase gift certificates that are redeemable at participating Door County businesses; intended for consumers seeking Door County experiences as gifts.
- Door County Visitor Guides Curated guide publications covering Door County themes including orchards, bicycling, birding, wineries, coastal routes, lighthouses, water activities, fish boils, supper clubs, and coffee shops; offered both as a printed Official Destination Guide and as themed Winter and special-interest guides.
- Door County Newsletter Email marketing newsletter featuring trip-planning articles, seasonal updates, event spotlights, and business spotlights for visitors and prospective visitors to Door County, Wisconsin.
- JobsInDoorCounty.com Job Board Dedicated job board platform allowing Door County employers to post employment opportunities and connect with local job seekers; intended to support the regional workforce behind the tourism economy.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over $3.1 million distributed to 59 local projects through Community Investment Fund since May 2023
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Destination Door County
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Destination Door County technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability2 records
Destination Door County partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Explore St. LouisminorExplore St. Louis hired Julie Gilbert, who transitioned from her role as president and CEO of Destination Door County, as part of its organizational initiatives. Gilbert served as DDC's president/CEO for over four years before departing in January 2026.
- Wheel the WorldcorePartnership to conduct comprehensive accessibility assessments at Door County businesses, parks, and cultural institutions. First round completed with 40 sites assessed, targeting 70 sites countywide with over 200 data points per assessment covering building access, parking, pathways, seating, signage, and restrooms.
- Door County Tourism Zone CommissioncoreGovernmental body that administers the 8% room tax on short-term rentals in Door County. This room tax funding enables the Community Investment Fund grant program which has distributed over $3.1 million to 59 local projects since May 2023.
- Destinations InternationalminorProfessional organization that awards the Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) certification, the tourism industry's highest individual educational achievement. Jon Jarosh completed this certification while helping guide DDC's 2026-2028 strategic plan.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Destination Door County competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Pure Michigan: Michigan's statewide destination marketing campaign and organization. Pure Michigan runs one of the most recognized state DMO brands in the U.S., with extensive partnership, content, and accessibility programs targeting Midwestern drive travelers — directly competitive with Door County for the same visitor segments.
- Travel Wisconsin: The official state-level destination marketing organization for Wisconsin. Travel Wisconsin operates a parallel mandate to Destination Door County at a larger geographic scale, managing visitor information, marketing campaigns, and partnership programs for the entire state, of which Door County is a featured destination.
- Brand USA: The national destination marketing organization for the United States. Brand USA operates at the federal level, running international marketing campaigns and partnerships that complement state and regional DMOs like Destination Door County.
- Travel Oregon: Oregon's statewide destination marketing organization. Travel Oregon operates a comparable destination marketing mandate with strong content, partnership, and community grant programs, frequently cited as a high-performing mid-size U.S. DMO.
- Visit California: California's statewide destination marketing organization. While operating at vastly larger scale, Visit California represents the canonical large-state DMO model — partnership program, content hub, accessibility data, grants to communities — that Destination Door County emulates at a regional scale.
Others
- Simpleview: Leading CRM, website, and digital marketing technology provider purpose-built for destination marketing organizations. Simpleview powers many DMOs' websites and back-office systems, making it a direct ecosystem partner and technology benchmark for organizations like Destination Door County.
- Destinations International: The professional industry association for destination marketing organizations worldwide. Destinations International administers the CDME certification completed by Destination Door County's interim CEO and sets industry standards for DMO strategy, accessibility, and performance measurement.
Regional players
- Visit Milwaukee: DMO for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Operates visitor information services, an events calendar, and a business partnership program under a comparable non-profit structure, serving the same state's tourism ecosystem as Destination Door County.
- Visit Green Bay: Destination marketing organization for Green Bay, Wisconsin — the nearest major metro to Door County. Visit Green Bay operates a comparable model of destination website, event calendar, business directory, and partnership programs, serving travelers in the same regional market.
- Explore St. Louis: Destination marketing organization for St. Louis, Missouri. Directly relevant given that Explore St. Louis hired former Destination Door County CEO Julie Gilbert as its CMO in early 2026, indicating comparable organizational structure and role profiles within the DMO industry.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Destination Door County social profiles
Digital presenceDestination Door County financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Destination Door County leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Destination Door County funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Destination Door County M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Destination Door County
What does Destination Door County do?
Destination Door County is a non-profit destination marketing and management organization (DMO) that promotes Door County, Wisconsin as a tourism destination. It operates DoorCounty.com — a tourism platform featuring a business directory of 1,200+ local businesses, an events calendar, lodging booking through Book>Direct, AI-powered trip planning tools, and themed visitor guides — and administers a free Business Partnership Program plus paid co-op marketing, alongside the Community Investment Fund grant program funded through an 8% room tax on short-term rentals.
Is Destination Door County a public or private company?
Destination Door County is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Destination Door County founded?
Destination Door County was founded in 1851. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Destination Door County based?
Destination Door County is headquartered in Sturgeon Bay, United States, in the North America region.
How does Destination Door County make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Room Tax Administration is the primary driver. The others are partnership and Marketing Services.
Who are Destination Door County's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Pure Michigan, Travel Wisconsin, Brand USA, Travel Oregon and Visit California. Others are Simpleview and Destinations International. Regional players are Visit Milwaukee, Visit Green Bay and Explore St. Louis.
Does Destination Door County have an API?
No public API is recorded for Destination Door County.
What industry is Destination Door County in?
Destination Door County's product category is Tourism Marketing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAAAGAD, Permitting, Reservations & Visitor Information Services (Passes, Booking, Visitor Centers), with a secondary code of THAHADAA, Full-Service Destination Management (Ground Handling & Onsite Operations). Its NAICS code is 561520 and its SIC code is 8744.