The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) requires a lodging permit for all lodging facilities in Wisconsin. Permits can be issued to individuals, partnerships, corporations, or other legal entities. Lodging facilities come in many forms. Common examples of lodging facilities requiring a DATCP permit include: hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts (B&Bs), row houses, cabins, cottages, lodges, homes, condos, or rental rooms located above a business. This is not an all-inclusive list.
DATCP will evaluate new forms of lodging for permitting requirements as they become known. DATCP defines a tourist or transient as a person who travels to a location away from his or her permanent address for a short period of time for vacation, pleasure, recreation, culture, business or employment. Notice that, in the definition for tourists or transients, a person has to be away from his or her permanent address in order to meet the definition. It does not matter if the tourist or transient is there for the season, the month, a week, a day, or less. If lodging is rented to a tourist or transient, it will require a permit.