County escapes worst of tourism drop

t’s no surprise that 2020 was a challenging year for the tourism industry across the nation. Wyoming, however, fared better than most places, according to a report the Wyoming Office of Tourism, and Crook was one of the least impacted counties in the state.

The 2020 Economic Impact of Travel in Wyoming report states that Wyoming’s travel economy only declined by 23%, compared to a national decline of 36%.

Crook County saw only a 17% decline, bested only by Washakie County at 16%. The highest recorded declines were in Converse, Sublette and Goshen Counties, all of which saw a 39% decline.

“Last year was unprecedented for the world and travel industry, but as the least populated state, Wyoming was uniquely positioned as a destination for those looking to enjoy wide-open spaces in a socially-distant environment,” said Diane Shober, executive director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism, in a press release.

“Our local communities and businesses worked hard this past year to safely welcome visitors, and we are now in a much better position because of their resiliency.”

The report, which was conducted by Dean Runyan Associates, details impacts from this decline in travel during 2020 that include a 22.9% decrease in travel spending from $4 billion in 2019 to $3.1 billion in 2020. An estimated 3940 jobs were lost as employment directly related to travel dropped by 12.1%.

Wyoming saw a 21.4% decrease in tax revenue from $203.2 million in 2019 to $159.8 million in 2020. An estimated 2.3 million fewer person trips occurred, which is a decline of 25.6%.

In Crook County, direct travel spending has generally been on the increase over the last decade, starting at $24.4 million in 2011 and climbing to $34 million in 2019. However, in 2020 it dropped to $30.2 million, a decline of 11.3%.

The same trend is visible in direct travel tax receipts, which climbed from $0.9 million in 2011 to $1.8 million in 2019, before seeing a 13.7% drop to $1.6 million in 2020.

Visitor spending declined in this county in all types of traveler accommodation except one. While campground spending dropped by 15.4% and day travel by 1.5%, the amount spent by visitors staying in hotels and motels actually increased by 9.5%, from $8.5 million to $9.3 million.

Accommodation itself was also the only sector of visitor spending that saw an increase. While this spending grew by a modest 0.4%, other areas of visitor spending saw more significant declines.

The biggest hit was to local transportation and gas, which declined by 21.6%, while entertainment and recreation dropped by 8.8%, food stores by 8%, retail sales by 7% and food service by 6%.

However, largely due to a large increase in retail sales (including gas) of 21.8% since 2019, travel industry earnings in Crook County actually increased last year by 0.9%. Earnings from miscellaneous travel costs also increased by 6.3% and from entertainment and recreation by 1.1%.

Travel and tourism supports 7% of total employment in Wyoming, or one in every ten jobs. Leisure and hospitality is the largest employer among private industries in this state.

According to the Wyoming Department of Tourism, every Wyoming household would need to pay an estimated $678 more in taxes without the revenue generated by this industry.

Power of Travel

As this year’s travel season kicks off, the Wyoming Office of Tourism is launching its second year of the WY Responsibly campaign, which aims to promote responsible travel in this state’s natural spaces. The campaign recommends:

Plan Ahead: Before traveling, make reservations at hotels and campgrounds with reservable sites, including Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park. 

Be Healthy: In the spirit of collective wellness, respect posted signs and announcements for health guidelines and requirements to ensure the safety of our communities. Masks are required on all federal lands including national parks.

Be Flexible and Informed: Plan ahead and be flexible with your experiences. For example, if a parking lot is full in a state or federal park, be ready to seek different trails and lesser-known experiences.  

Keep it Clean: While experiencing the public land, be prepared to not have access to trash cans or restrooms, especially when recreating in national forests.

Be Fire Aware: Respect fire bans in place, choose a campsite with pre-existing fire rings whenever possible and never leave your fire unattended.

Keep Your Distance: Co-exist responsibly with Wyoming’s wildlife and keep your distance. For the safety of wildlife and visitors, please keep at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards away from all other wildlife.