Visitor spending up this year in Whitefish, except for Canadians

An estimated 57 cents of every dollar spent in Whitefish in January came from visitors. 

That amount is up from 56 cents in January 2024 and 53 cents in 2023, according to VISA card insights collected by Explore Whitefish, formally called the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau.  

Visitor spending in Whitefish saw a 23.6% increase in January compared to the same month last year, rising from $5.84 million in 2024 to $7.22 million in 2025. 

Canadian visitation spending, however, saw a decrease of 14.2% in January compared to last year. 

“While this decline may reflect broader economic and political trends or it may simply be currency exchange factors impacting cross-border travel, Whitefish continues to see strong interest from Canadian visitors overall,” wrote Julie Mullins, executive director of Explore Whitefish, in a market report. “We will continue to monitor travel patterns and work with partners to encourage spring visits from our neighbors to the north.”  

Hotels and traditional lodging saw a 7.3% year-over-year decline in occupancy for February 2025 compared to last year. There was a similar drop of the year prior as well; with February 2024 down about 7% from 2023. 

However, this year’s drop was partly offset by an 8.95% increase for traditional lodging’s average daily rate, which can indicate revenue.  

Future bookings for traditional lodging are currently trending below the same period last year.  

Short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, in Whitefish continued their upward trend in February, with year-over-year growth of 6.9% in occupancy and a 16.3% increase in average daily rate. 

Glacier National Park reported a 32% increase in visitors in January 2025, with 17,982 visitors for the month. Most of the increases came through the West Glacier entrance; although Polebridge did see a notable jump from 275 in January 2024 to 496 this year. 

February, however, saw a slight drop in Glacier’s visitation, with 15,202 coming to the park in February compared to 16,658 last year. 

Whitefish Mountain Resort has seen generally strong visitation throughout the ski season and into spring, said Chad Sokol, public relations manager. Ample snowfall has played a big part in that, from opening week through a surprise storm on Monday, April 1, he said.  

Overall, people are booking vacations on shorter notice than in years past.  

“It used to be six to nine months out, now it's one or two,” Mullins said. “For example, 16% of February’s occupancy was added in the previous 30 days. Typically, it’s more like 5%.”  

While chasing snow drives shorter-term booking in the winter, it’s less precedented in the summer.  

“We’re going to watch closely,” Mullins said. “Businesses can’t afford to have a bad summer.”  

As with the messaging of Explore Whitefish’s “Be a Friend of the Fish” sustainable tourism campaigns of years past, Mullins anticipates visitor education this summer to be a strong proponent. 

“We will take a positive spin. Anything could change, and we want people to manage their expectations,” Mullins said. “And we want to have information about respecting this place.”