I pasted this together a few years ago. Now I need to update to 2010 — so much done in the last 5 years!  Stoked Mentoring, Scout leader, surfing….

And, as I read through this, I realize how much has been left out – 24 Hr Mtn bike races, traveling, backpacking, sailing…

It appears that my question for 2010 tourism, at least for mountain states of USA, has been answered.

According to a report today in SportsOneSource.com,  ”overall occupancy for the next six months is down 5.4 percent compared to one year ago.”

The article says, ““Last year at this time many resorts got a late bump in reservations by targeting local and regional markets with compelling rates and packages to draw visitors with pricing incentives and the excellent snow conditions. But this year, neither element is as prominent and local skiers and riders who filled in the resorts last season aren’t as motivated to hit the slopes as last year.”

Local, regional visitors drawn by deals and good conditions – sound right to me (as well as my wallet).

What do you think?

The Salt Lake Tribune reported recently that tourism spending in Utah declined 10%, or by $700 million to $6.2 billion in 2009 and visitation declined 4.5% to 19.4 milllion.

It’s not news that across the globe tourism is down.  Airline “passenger demand is….6% below the peak levels seen in early 2008,” according to IATA.).   So, it’s not surprising that Utah’s tourism numbers have dropped.

The Tribune said, “Skiers and snowboarders are important to the state economy because they tend to stay longer and spend more per day than other travelers.” They are, ”also one of the groups that’s most likely to want to experience the area’s nightlife.” Unfortunately, “the number of skier visits to the state dropped by 300,000.”

My guess is that the vast majority of Utah visitors originate from the United States. I imagine that European skiers and snowboarders would likely visit mountains on their own continent (except for those traveling to watch or compete in specific snow events).

 Utah (and other mountain states) dosen’t appear in the list of top 20 airports for international traveler arrivals. “International visitors to the U.S. (were) down 7 percent in the first 10 months of the year (2009) compared to the same period the year before,” according an AP article.