Tourism survey reveals Yellowstone most popular destination in Montana

In the summer of 2001, visitors from out of state each spent about $110 a day and stayed in Montana about four nights.

That’s one finding a survey of out-of-state travelers revealed. The survey is the work of the Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research, http://www.forestry.umt.edu/research/MFCES/programs/itrr/ an arm of the University of Montana-Missoula School of Forestry.

By JO DEE BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer

The state’s tourism industry relies on the institute’s work to find out who the state’s visitors are, why they choose to come to Montana and what they do when they get here, said Victor Bjornberg, the tourism development coordinator for the Montana Department of Commerce.

"We use the reports to build our marketing programs and to close gaps in terms of services visitors say were not available," he said.

Personnel from the institute approach travelers throughout the year and collect initial information, such as visitors’ home states and the purpose of their trips.

Those visitors also are given a travel diary and questionnaire to fill out and return. In 2001, 10,737 questionnaires were distributed and 4,220 were returned — a 39 percent response rate.

Funding for the research comes from the state’s lodging tax.

The survey showed Yellowstone National Park was the most popular destination for out-of-state travelers in 2001 — 48 percent stopped there. Glacier National Park was visited by 32 percent of the out-of-staters and the Flathead Lake area attracted 19 percent.

Bjornberg said Yellowstone and Glacier have traditionally been the top draws in the state since the early 1990s, and his office has focused on slowing those visitors down and spreading them out to other areas in the state.

"Since 1993, we’ve been getting more information to travelers about the central and eastern portion of the state, through travel writers and other means," Bjornberg said.

The report also shows 38 percent of travelers used the Internet to plan their trips.

Once here, highway signs were the resource used most often for information. Thirty-three percent of those surveyed said they relied on billboards and such, although only 25 percent said those signs were the most useful sources of information for travelers in the Treasure State.