Wisconsin’s past is becoming a popular topic in the present after state historic sites saw a 12-percent increase in attendance this year.

Lisa Marshall, communications coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, said the increased popularity of the sites is great news for the state, adding promotion of historical sites is a central goal of the department.

Marshall said the tourism business is thriving in Wisconsin — travelers spent around $12.8 billion in the state every year, and the department of tourism spent about $11.4 million marketing Wisconsin’s attractions.

The WDT, Marshall said, promotes the sites at many venues and welcome centers in Wisconsin, but the attractions do quite a bit of marketing on their own.

"We promote the whole state," Marshall said. "We always include historical sites as part of our PR efforts and travel guides."

Steve Freese, executive director at Circus World in Baraboo, Wis., said marketing campaigns are done in an attempt to increase attendance at the historic site, adding there are a variety of reasons why Circus World fared well this year.

"We had a magnificent car show," Freese said, which included just under 60 vintage cars. Other special events — including Circus China — have increased the circus' publicity.

"[The events] really entertained the public, and there was a lot of media attention," Freese said.

Freese added Circus World — which includes both a museum and live performances — does most of its marketing through Circus World Museum Inc., a foundation that was created in the 1950s and has operated and managed the site for the Historical Society.

Freese said the marketing budget for Circus World would be increased with the new appropriation from the state. People from all over the world visit the national landmark, he added.

"We have people from everywhere you can imagine," Freese said. "The largest three segments of the population visiting us are Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa."

David Simmons, director for the Wade House, a small Civil War-era village and museum in Greenbush, Wis., credits increased attendance to a number of new initiatives.

"We hosted on-site the playing of historical 1860s baseball in costume," he said. "The baseball was a new thing for us, and we got a lot of attendance with that."

Simmons said attendance nearly doubled this year for the Civil War re-enactment.

"We worked very diligently and consistently with an advisory group of re-enactors," said Simmons. "We worked with this advisory team for about eight months to create a bigger and better event than ever before."

To expand the size of the program, Simmons said a lot of marketing was done for the Civil War program, including Internet advertising and a more strategic outreach to mothers.