"No People' A Big Reason to Visit Montana

On a cold, rainy day in October, a husband and wife descend from the viewing platform above the Yellowstone River Canyon inside Yellowstone National Park.

“I hope the rain stops soon. We’ve been here three days and we haven’t been able to see anything,” the man says. “But at least there are no people.”

In fact, the couple were two of more than 250,000 people to enter the park in October, bringing the year’s total number of recreational visits to a record-breaking 4 million. The previous mark was 3.6 million, set in 2010.

The throngs of people flocking to the park appear to be part of a larger trend of increased tourism in the area.

Between August of last year and August 31, 2015, more than 500,000 passengers took a flight from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. It was the first time that any Montana airport had surpassed half a million boardings in a 12-month span. On the year, statewide boarding numbers are up almost 2 percent.

“In a region that is very dependent on air service, this is something our community can be proud of,” said Bozeman airport Director Brian Sprenger.

Though it’s hard to identify a single catalyst for the growth, strategic marketing campaigns, a long, warm summer season and an increase in foreign tourists have all been factors.

In 2014, nearly 11 million people visited the state of Montana, spending $3.9 billion. While the overall number of visitors was down, the spending increased by more than 7 percent, a tradeoff that many in the industry feel is a win-win.

“We consider that a success. If we can get fewer people to spend more money here, all the better to minimize the impact of tourism,” said Daniel Iverson, communications manager for the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development.

The Yellowstone Region, which includes Carbon, Gallatin, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, saw more than 3.3 million visitors last year, with 40 percent of overnight trips coming between July and September. This strong summer rush has permeated outward to communities like Big Sky, where Kitty Clemens, executive director of the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce, said she has seen a marked increase in warm weather activity.

MORE>>>Bozeman Daily Chronicle