1997 outlook and trends for tourism and recreation.

• Author: Nickerson, Norma P.
• Position: Industry Overview

1996 was a strange year for the Montana tourism and recreation industry. While overall nonresident visitation numbers appear to have increased about 1 percent, there is a great disparity in the visitation numbers at Montana's attractions. It seems for every place that had an increase, two others had a decrease. The following information will disclose in further detail what happened in Montana and the nation in 1996.

Montana Trends

Nonresident travel to Montana continued at a slower pace of growth in 1996. Over 8 million nonresidents visited in 1996, approximately a 1 percent increase from 1995. While tourism growth continues, Montana is not seeing the substantial growth experienced in the early 1990s . Airport traffic increased nearly 1 percent while interstate traffic actually decreased by 0.5 percent .

Montana is not different from its neighboring states. Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota have also seen a leveling of visitation rates. One cannot expect high levels of growth every year.

What is peculiar about the 1996 nonresident travel to Montana is the substantial visitation decrease in many sites or attractions. After a nearly record-breaking year in 1995, visitation to Yellowstone National Park was down 4 percent in 1996. Although figures haven't been finalized, Glacier National Park appears to be down again this year after a nearly 15 percent decrease in 1995 [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 3 OMITTED]. Other areas of downward visitation include:

Approx. declines Lewis and Clark Caverns -7% Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area -23% Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument -11% National Bison Range -11% Libby Dam -11% Montana Historical Society -7% Museum of the Rockies -17% A Montana tourism industry survey conducted in mid-December 1996, by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research, The University of Montana-Missoula, shows that 1996 visitation was down for 41 percent of the respondents, while only 28 percent of the respondents indicated revenues were down . The study surveyed 91 industry leaders managing hotel/motels, bed and breakfasts, attractions, campgrounds, ski resorts, guest or dude ranches/resorts, outfitter/guides, CVB/Chambers of Commerce, and public lands.

Weather was cited as the number one factor affecting visitation, followed by gas prices and the economy - all factors beyond industry managers' control. Marketing and advertising, which came in as the fourth most frequently mentioned factor, is the...