Where have all the tourists gone?
by PETER JOHNSON Tribune Staff Writer • August 9, 2009
Montana and Great Falls tourism officials don't dispute statistics that show lodging room occupancy took a hit the first half of this year, but insist those statistics aren't the full story of this year's tourism season, including very favorable trends the last six weeks.
Smith Travel Research shows 7 percent fewer hotel and motel rooms were rented in Montana during the first half of 2009 compared to the same time in 2008, including 9 percent fewer in Great Falls.
Occupancy rates for July won't be available for a few weeks.
Montana's travel numbers were "pretty soft" through June, said Betsy Baumgart, travel director for the Montana Office of Tourism, "but the real heart of our tourism season is July through September. And our tourism partners, including concessionaires in Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, have told us their reservations have picked up steadily since June, though consumers seem to be spending less in restaurants and retail stores."
In fact, Yellowstone Park last week reported a record number of visitors in July, 900,500. In July 2008, 808,110 people visited the park.
Glacier Park's July numbers are not fully compiled yet but also appeared strong, a spokesman said. Glacier had a 14 percent increase in visitors in June compared with the previous year, from 287,059 in 2008 to 327,572 this year.
Travelers more 'last minute'
"With the uncertain economy, many people have been waiting until the last minute to decide to travel, and then staying closer to home and seeking good value," Baumgart said, adding that can benefit Montana's reasonably priced travel.
Although Montana lodging occupancy numbers were down 7 percent the first half of 2009, she added, "we fared better than our competitors." The same Smith Travel Research reports showed first-half 2009 occupancy rates down 10 percent nationally and 15 percent in the Rocky Mountain region that includes Montana.
Why was Montana doing better than near-by states entering the summer?
"We think Montana is perceived as a really affordable vacation experience," Baumgart said. "A family of four can easily get by on $100 a day in a national park, which is a much better value than visiting a national amusement park."
Norma Nickerson, director of the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research, said Montana had a 6.4 percent drop in out-of-state visitors last year, to 10 million, because fuel prices jumped to $4 a gallon in June 2008 as tourists were getting ready to hit the road.
She agreed recession fears probably caused folks to hesitate in making travel plans.
"We think people started making hotel reservations and other plans as they saw gas prices weren't going to spike and became a little more confident about their own finances," she said.
"We think that, because of the sluggish economy and desire to trim costs, more people are camping, staying with friends or relatives, or going in with friends to rent condos, time-shares or vacation homes," Nickerson said.
Campgrounds inexpensive
A Butte family enjoying a four-day stay at the Great Falls KOA might be typical of those staying closer to home to economize.
Dan Carroll, his fiancée, Kristi Jozovich, and her three children came to Great Falls to shop for school clothes, attend a couple of baseball games, bike on the River's Edge Trail, swim at the Electric City Water Park and tour the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center.
Carroll and Jozovich said they considered other options such as Salt Lake City or Spokane and the nearby Silverwood Theme Park for their big summer vacation but figured Great Falls had "just as much to do and is more affordable."
The Great Falls KOA is the nicest they've found, Jozovich said, with a water spray park and a deluxe cabin with a kitchenette so they can reduce spending on meals out. It's a better deal than getting two motel rooms, she said.
Still, plenty of RV drivers from the Midwest and Canada were lined up waiting to pull into the KOA a few evenings ago.
Manager Al Belknap estimated camper nights have been up 10 or 15 percent so far this summer "and August has always been our busiest month."
The Great Falls campground has been packed on weekends and at least 70 percent full week nights, he said.
"Many folks call in to make reservations at the last minute, some by cell phone as they near Great Falls," Belknap said.
"People seem to still want their vacation, but to keep costs down by sticking to campgrounds and not buying extra things. Souvenir sales at our camp store are down, but people are ordering our a la carte breakfasts rather than trying to maneuver an RV through a McDonald's drive-through."
Mike Gast, communications vice president at KOA's national headquarters in Billings, said business got off to a slow start this year at its 200 campgrounds in the South.
"With the economy lowering their investment accounts, snowbirds either didn't travel down south this year or didn't stay as long," he said.
KOA visitation is flat overall for the year, but up 2.6 percent in the Northwest, including Montana, he said.
Gast said KOA has noticed two trends:
- People were camping closer to home and spending fewer days, even before the recession.
"The two-week vacation in which a family traveled 1,500 miles and stayed at seven campgrounds is largely a thing of the past," he said. "With Mom and Dad working and more activities for the kids, they're far more likely to take a week or four-day camping trip in Montana than they are to drive to Disneyland."
- People who are trying to save money in this economy are more likely to camp. While about 80 percent of KOA users drive RVs, another 10 percent pitch tents, he said. The rest stay in either basic or deluxe cabins.
Canadians boost local lodging
Great Falls motels and hotels got off to soft start, but are seeing increased demand in July and August, local business people say.
Russell Country tourism region executive director Gayle Fisher, Holiday Inn general manager Bob Dompier and others said there's another good reason why Great Falls occupancy numbers look a bit low the first half of this year when compared with last year's.
The Great Falls lodging industry saw a good increase in bed tax collections — another tourism measurement — in 2008 because the city was able to weather last summer's high gas prices better than other Montana cities.
Great Falls is closer to Canada and large numbers of Canadians came to Great Falls to shop, play and enjoy the most favorable currency exchange rate in years, local officials say.
The Canadian dollar was around par with the U.S. dollar early last summer.
The rate was less favorable this year, fluctuating between 77 and 88 cents U.S. for a Canadian dollar until recently, when it rose to 94 cents.
"Canadian business has always been cyclical depending on exchange rates," Dompier said. "There are times like last summer when visitation is so great that Great Falls hotels have to turn people away some weekends. Other times, like this summer, Canadian visitation is just good."
"It's a real positive thing that people are still traveling in Montana, even though they're staying closer to home and spending less," Dompier said.
"The summer tourism season seemed to kick off a little late this year as people held back making travel plans, she said. "June started slow, but July and August have been better at both hotels. Our Canadian traffic has been strong."