SALT LAKE CITY — Out-of-state tourists last year took memories of Utah home with them and left an unprecedented amount of money in the Beehive State.
Visitors spent $7.8 billion in Utah, amounting to $1.07 billion in state and local tax revenues. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert challenged the industry to increase tax revenue to $1.2 billion by 2020.
Utah tourism revenue has increased by 44 percent in the past 10 years, growing faster than any other sector in the state's economy, said Vicki Varela, Utah Office of Tourism managing director. Neighboring states' revenues have increased by percentages in the mid-30s.
Varela attributed Utah's decade of success to marketing.
"I think, as residents, we just saw Utah as our own big backyard for a while, but now that we noticed that Mother Nature played favorites and the land here is super marketable, we're on everybody's bucket list," she said. "This is such a huge breakthrough for the Utah economy. It means money we don't have to pay that can go toward schools, roads and more."
Visits to all of Utah's national parks have increased since 2005, the year Utah Tourism began its extensive marketing. Zion National Park has had the greatest increase in visitation, increasing from nearly 2.6 million visitors in 2005 to nearly 3.2 million in 2014.
Bryce Canyon National Park had a large enough increase in summer attendance that the administration decided to keep 35 rooms in the Bryce Canyon Lodge open to winter guests.
"As visitation has increased this summer, let's see if more visitors would like to visit Bryce Canyon National Park in the winter," said Lisa Eckert, park superintendent. "I think a lot of visitors love to explore the national parks in the off-season for that solitude and silence."
Similarly, Snowbird expanded its off-peak availability beginning in summer 2014, offering biking, mountain trails, festivities and mud-runs. Despite the low amount of snow, Brian Brown of Snowbird said visitor numbers stayed high in winter 2014, and he expects the numbers will climb higher this ski season.
These increases in visitation may be a result of "The Mighty 5" and "Find Your Greatest" campaigns unveiled by the Utah Office of Tourism in 2013 and 2014, designed to bring a visual element and emotional appeal of Utah's landscapes, Utah Tourism spokesman Jay Kinghorn said.
The "Find Your Greatest" campaign featured six people's stories on Utah snow and encouraged others to visit Utah and test out "the greatest snow on Earth."
"The Mighty 5" campaign invited those in other states and countries to visit Utah's top 5 national parks — Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion.
The "Find Your Greatest" campaign continues this season, and a new "Mighty 5 2.0" campaign will be unveiled in 2016. Along with this campaign, Varela said the Utah Office of Tourism will place an increased emphasis on "rourism" — tourism in rural communities.
Pilot marketing strategies have increased tourism in Emery, Cane and Box Elder counties, she said. National parks and snow activities are the hook to get visitors to Utah, Varela said, but "rourism" offers tourists more activities to do once they are in the state.
The Utah Office of Tourism will also emphasize international marketing in 2016 because international visitors usually stay longer and spend more money, Varela said. This year, Canadian and Chinese tourists have been the most common international visitors to Utah, according to the state tourism office.
Not only does tourism influence the world's views of Utah, Varela said it changes what Utah residents think about their home state, too.
"Along with putting money right into our cash registers, research shows that building our reputation in tourism will also increase positive perceptions among those who live and work here," Varela said.
Email: vjorgensen@deseretnews.com
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