Tourism trends challenge mom and pop shops in Montana. Are we promoting tourism in Montana enough?

While tourist officials and industry representatives report that visitor numbers are up this year — with 2005 perhaps a record year — a report to the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Council warns that growth in the tourism industry has been slowing down, a trend that bodes ill for smaller businesses.

June’s rains, which can dampen visitation numbers, brought a cornucopia of wildflowers to Glacier National Park — described by some as the best showing ever — and it also kept fires down for the second year in a row since the historic fire season of 2003. Fires closed Glacier Park that year and filled valleys with smoke, and national media spread the message.

By RICHARD HANNERS
Whitefish Pilot

Full Story: http://www.whitefishpilot.com/articles/2005/08/25/news/news02.txt