- Travelers account for $4.2 billion* in traveler spending
for the Utah economy
- Traveler spending generated $341 million* in state
and local tax revenues
- In 2003, 17.2 million visitors traveled to Utah
- 103,585* jobs in travel and tourism-related industries
(9.6% of total Utah nonfarm jobs)
o 71,059 Direct tourism jobs
o 32,526 Indirect tourism jobs
- Domestic overnight leisure visitors spent on average
$75 per person per day and stayed 3.1 nights (2001 Overnight
Leisure Visitor Profile, D.K. Shifflet and Associates,
Ltd.)
- 83% of Utah’s visitors come from
the Western United States (2001 Data)
| |
- Utah
- California
- Idaho |
- Nevada
- Colorado
- Texas
- Wyoming
|
- Washington
- Arizona
- Mexico |
- International visitors accounted for 3.4% of total
non-resident visitation with an estimated 590,000 visits
in 2003. Top international markets include: (2002 Data)
| |
- Canada
- Germany
- United Kingdom |
- France
- Japan
- Italy |
- Switzerland
- Netherlands |
- International visitors to Utah spent
on average $81 per day and stayed 5.7 nights in Utah
(1/4 of their total
U.S. trip – 1997-99 data)
- 5.0 million recreation visits were made to Utah’s
five national parks during 2003. Another 4.9 million
recreation visits occurred at Utah’s eight national
monuments and two recreation areas
- 4.6 million visitors enjoyed Utah’s 41 state
parks during 2002
- 22.7 million vehicles crossed Utah’s borders
along Interstate highways in 2003
- 18.5 million passengers arrived at Salt Lake International
Airport during the year
- Utah ski resorts hosted 3.39 million skier days during
the 2003/04 season
- 659,000 visitors stopped at one of Utah’s six
Welcome Centers during 2003
- 58.8% statewide hotel/motel occupancy rate
*These figures are estimates.
UTAH WELCOME CENTERS
Utah’s six welcome centers, located
along major transportation corridors throughout the state,
reported
increasing visitation for the second time in seven years.
Total Welcome Center visitation totaled 676,781 in 2002,
a 3% increase over 2001. Visitation figures were fairly
flat at the Echo (0%) and Brigham City (1%) Welcome Centers.
The largest increases were at St. George (9%) and Thompson
Springs (8%). The Jensen and Council Hall Welcome Centers
both reported declines (23% and 4% respectively).
EMPLOYMENT
During 2002, travel and tourism-related
employment totaled 101,164 jobs scattered throughout
the state. This represented
only a 0.2% decrease compared to 2001’s employment
levels. Additionally, tourism-related job growth continues
to outperform statewide job growth (-0.2% compared to -0.7%).
Twenty of Utah’s 29 counties experienced tourism-related
job growth from 2001 to 2002. Millard (9%), Daggett (8%),
Rich (5%) and Washington (5%) all posted strong gains in
tourism-related employment. The 2002 tourism job growth
rate fell below the state’s five-year average annual
tourism job growth rate of 3.7%. Over the past several
years, most of the state’s tourism-related job growth
has occurred around the Wasatch Front and in adjoining
counties such as Cache, Tooele, Summit, Morgan, and Wasatch.
However, pockets of strong job growth have also occurred
in Washington, Rich, and Uintah Counties.
Tourism-related jobs account for over 9%
of total nonfarm jobs in Utah (one in every 11 jobs).
If tourism is treated
as a separate industry, it is the sixth-largest employment
sector in the state, behind Trade, Transportation, Utilities;
Government; Manufacturing; Professional & Business
Services; and Education & Health Services. Tourism
lost only 245 new jobs, while the state as a whole lost
nearly 8,000 jobs in 2002.
Although two-thirds of travel and tourism-related jobs
are located along the four-county Wasatch Front area, many
counties in rural areas of the state are more dependent
on tourism. Fewer employment opportunities within rural
counties means that tourism jobs are crucial to providing
needed employment, tax receipts, personal income, and business
profits. Counties in the northeast and southeast areas
of the state are particularly dependent on tourism. Tourism
accounts for more than a fifth (20%) of total nonfarm employment
in 11 counties, led by Daggett (70%), Garfield (49%), Grand
(48%), Summit (45%), and Kane (40%).
VISITATION STATISTICS
National Parks. Visiting Utah’s national parks continues
to be the state’s top tourist attraction. For the
last decade, Utah’s national parks have attracted
around five million visitors. The popularity of Utah’s
national parks increased rapidly during the mid-80s and
early 90s, growing by nearly 10% per year to 5.3 million
visitors by 1992. Since 1992, the number of visitors to
Utah’s national parks has hovered close to five million,
although visitation peaked in 1996 at 5.7 million. Since
1996, national park visitation has declined in four of
the past six years.
In 2002, 5.1 million visitors arrived to
national parks in Utah, a 4.1% increase from 2001. The
state’s best
performance was Zion, where visitation increased 16.4%,
followed by Arches (2.1%) and Canyonlands (1.9%). Zion,
Utah’s most popular national park, had over 2.5 million
visitors in 2002. Bryce Canyon suffered a decrease of 17.0%
less visitors, while Capitol Reef’s visitation only
slightly declined by 0.8%.
Visitation levels to Utah’s national
parks reflected an overall visitation pattern to national
parks throughout
the west with some enjoying increases and others suffering
declines. Among the most popular parks in the region, visitation
declined at Death Valley (-11%) and Yellowstone (-31%).
Visitation increased or stayed the same as the previous
year at Grand Canyon (2%), Grand Teton (29%), Olympic (4%),
Rocky Mountain (13%), Mount Ranier (41%), Glacier (146%),
and Yosemite (7%).
Skiing. Utah’s ski industry braced itself for a
difficult 2001/02 season. The terrorist attacks, the economy,
and the Olympics were all expected to negatively affect
skier visits to the state. That season, Utah’s ski
resorts reported a better-than-expected decline of only
9%. Totaling 3.0 million skier days. In 2002/03, despite
a weak economy, the number of skier days increased 5.3%
to 3.1 million.
After seeing the Olympics, a large number
of destination skiers came from outside the state and
helped boost Utah’s
numbers. Many local skiers stayed home while waiting for
the usual large January snowstorms that never came. It’s
interesting to note that the three Park City resorts recorded
the largest gains, and each benefited from a log of Olympic
publicity.
National Monuments & Recreation Areas. Utah’s
national monuments and recreation areas remain popular
destinations for travelers. However, visitation decreased
in 2002 to approximately 5.0 million, down 8% from the
year before. All but two of Utah’s national monuments
and recreation areas reported declines during 2002, ranging
from a 2% drop at Grand Staircase-Escalante NM to a 17%
decline at Hovenweep NM. Natural Bridges NM recorded an
increase of 13% and visitation to Golden Spike NHS increased
6%, but those gains weren’t enough to offset the
declines elsewhere.
Salt Lake International Airport. Although
total passengers to the Salt Lake International Airport
have decreased in
each of the last six years, the decrease is largely attributable
to declines in the number of connecting flights made through
Salt Lake International Airport. Total passenger traffic
at the airport barely declined by 0.5% in 2002, totaling
18.7 million passengers. However, the number of destination
visitors (representing approximately 54% of 2002’s
total passengers – as measured by local enplanes
and deplanes) decreased by 5% to 10.1 million passengers.
The terrorist attacks of September 11th affected air transportation
more than any other industry. Increased security measures
have made air travel more difficult. Combine the fear of
terrorism with the perception that air travel is more difficult
add a struggling economy, and one can see why some airlines
are facing financial crises. Nevertheless, overall passenger
counts at Salt Lake International Airport were nearly on
par with 2001 levels.
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