Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Tourism in Utah [*].

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.

(*.) But were afraid to ask

One year out from undeniably its greatest visitor-industry event ever -- the 2002 Winter Olympic Games -- Utah has fashioned a sharp marketing plan and hired a big-city advertising firm to sell its message to the world.

Market-report figures show that business is booming as never before. And the Utah Travel Council points to a particular increase that fares well for a state where tourism is a dirty word to some, salvation to others. New industry figures predict a rise in visitors who stay shorter periods and spend more.

It's that quality-versus-quantity appeal that could spell compromise for the two sides of the tourism debate -- those who fear increasingly crowded infrastructure and an economy dependant on low-paying service-industry wages. And those who say that crowded highways and park systems are offset by the predictable, seasonal flow of money-spending visitors -- in essence, that even low-paying jobs are better than no jobs.

That potential increase in "quality" visitors is not the only demographic tidbit revealed by the Utah Travel Council's latest sweeping study. The market analysis and corresponding scruting by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) offer an in-depth examination of Utah and the West's tourism industry.

Who are these travelers who come long distances to sample Utah's scenic fare and line our pocketbooks before leaving again? Likewise, who are the folks -- an estimated one in every nine Utah workers -- who make their living from the yearly and seasonal influx of visitors?

Understand that and you have the snapshot version of Utah's travel-industry impact -- and a great tool for boosting your own business in an arena where every tourist dollar courted and spent counts.

Piece of the Pie

Pumping $4.25 billion into Utah's economy in 2000 -- plus an added $340 million in state and local tax revenues -- tourism has more than doubled its job-sector impact over the past two decades. The visitor industry directly employed 67,000 Utahns in 1999, up 1,500 jobs from the year before and a strong increase from the 26,600 tourism-related jobs of 22 years ago. (Unless otherwise indicated, all tourism-wage figures mentioned throughout relate to

average annual nonagricultural wage.)

While Utah still lags behind its Western neighbors -- of surrounding states, only Idaho's economic impact from tourism is smaller -- the upcoming 2002 Winter Olympic Games will likely improve...