Canadian recession, wildfires slow summer visitation

The 2015 summer tourism season in Whitefish was solid, but not nearly as strong as the year before. 

According to numbers compiled by the Whitefish Convention and Visitor Bureau, lodging collections were down for the city’s resort tax revenue and the WCVB’s tourism and promotion assessment for lodging was down also from the beginning of the year through September. The resort tax was down 1.46 percent, while the TPA collection was down 7.25 percent.

WCVB executive director Dylan Boyle said the recession in Canada along with wildfires in the area were the likely cause of the drop in the lodging.

“The No. 1 factor was the fire in Glacier Park, which shut down the east side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road,” Dylan Boyle said. “The smoke in August is when we saw a hit numbers wise.”

However, he also noted that 2014 was a “banner tourism year.”

“When you consider 2014 was our biggest year for tourism — bigger than most years,” he said. “We did pretty well all things considered.”

Overnight visitors in Whitefish were down slightly at 1.3 percent, according to data from the Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research at the University of Montana. From July through September, in 2014 there were 331,600 visitors who stayed the night, compared with 2015 that saw about 327,000 visitors spending the night.

Boyle pointed out that during the months of July and August this year there were still hotel rooms available in Whitefish. He said there are about 1,200 lodging rooms in Whitefish not including vacation rentals that are outside of rental management companies.

“From July 1 through Labor Day, every night we had availability,” he said.

UM’s numbers point to a shift in where travelers stayed the night in 2015. Of those surveyed, 30 percent said they spent the night in a hotel or motel, compared with 2014 when 55 percent reported staying in a hotel or motel. The percentage staying in private campground, home of friend or relative, camping, rented cabin/home, second home or resort/condominium all were up for 2015.

When looking at some of the travel trends, Boyle noted, there was still an increase in travel and visitation in the Flathead Valley.

Glacier National Park is on pace to have another record year for visitation after setting a record last year. Passengers at Glacier Park International Airport were up for July through September and year-to-date at 2.6 percent. Amtrak passengers are also up by 3.2 percent for the year.

Also positive news for Whitefish, Boyle noted, is according to data collected by UM’s surveys of visitors to Whitefish most plan to return again. Of those who visited Whitefish, 75 percent said they plan to return in two years and 69 percent said they were repeat visitors.

“That’s a big key for us,” Boyle said. “We rely on those repeat visitors. Even with the fire and smoke this year, it’s great that those visitors want to come back.”

The WCVB’s numbers for its tourism and promotion assessment show a spike in collections in the months of July and August for both 2014 and 2015.

“Our shoulder seasons are real,” Boyle said. “That’s why the WCVB spends 60 percent of our advertising budget on winter, 20 percent into spring and 20 percent into fall. We’re trying to even out those spikes, so it isn’t as dramatic for businesses.”

The TPA is a 1 percent fee charged by lodging or restaurant WCVB members. The fee provide funds to the WCVB to help promote Whitefish.

A break down of city resort tax collections show a similar trend, with most resort tax dollars being collected during July through September. The state lodging tax revenue shows more than half of its collections coming during July through September, according to the WCVB.