YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Summer tourism is soaring in Yellowstone National Park. A new record for visits was set in May, and some of the business people, who depend on the park to make a living, tell MTN News they are happy to see more visitors arriving every day.
“Lots of visitation, lots of people domestically and internationally. We're definitely seeing a high interest and demand in the park,” said Mike Keller, the General Manager for Yellowstone Lodges.
Curious about Yellowstone's booming visitor numbers? Click here to watch our exclusive video coverage:
Dale Sexton, the co-owner of Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop in Livingston, added, “Yeah, the numbers are up. It's very encouraging. I think people in general, our sales are still down. Not dramatically, but they are down. So when I say we're running at 100 miles an hour, I wish we were set up to be running 110 miles an hour right now. But yeah, we're thankful for the business that we've got. “
In Mammoth, you can see that the summer tourism traffic is already starting to pick up. Keller pointed to that and said you could see that all over the park. He said, “I mean, increased crowds at all the popular attractions in Yellowstone, in the Old Faithful area, Canyon Village, here in Mammoth Hot Springs, definitely a lot of interest.”
So why is that happening?
“This is not only a national park, but an international destination. And despite what may be happening in the world with, you know, the economy or people's just opinions on, you know, parts of the world, it doesn't matter," Keller said. "Visitation is still interested in this part of Wyoming and Montana. And they're coming here to see us for sure.”
May visits to the park topped 762 million, up about six percent from a year ago. But businesses are seeing a change in how people are making their Yellowstone plans.
“It feels like the booking windows are shortening. So sometimes it's a month lead or even a few weeks. If a family sees the gas prices have dropped, then they're going to travel,” said Katrina Wiese, the President and CEO of the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce.
"Sixty to 90 days seems to really be the sweet spot right now for a lot of people booking. And then within that 14 days or less. So literally last-second decisions, do I want to go somewhere this weekend? Do I want to go somewhere this week? You know, whatever it is that they're using for their metric to decide when they want to book their reservation. But it's definitely, the window has shrunk significantly,” said Keller.
Some business owners were concerned about a loss of visitation when the government cuts first began to be announced in February. Obviously, that is not happening.
“You know, and there was a lot of calls and questions, you know, from visitors early on. It's like, should I keep my reservation? Should I plan on coming later this year? And we told everybody, yes, you know, nothing is fundamentally changing in how we're operating this year," Keller said. "And that has been the case. “
Sexton of the Yellowstone Gateway Business Coalition still has concerns about the welfare of the park. He said, “We're not sitting back. We're actively pursuing building a firewall around Yellowstone, if you will, for all the gateway communities essentially, to make sure that Yellowstone is protected, not only today, but for future generations as well.”
Just driving around the park the past month, you can definitely see more traffic on the roads, but Keller said that’s not a problem.
“It's one of those urban myths how all the park is just crowded and overrun. That it's really not the case. There might be certain areas in the park that are more popular than others. And so, if you want to plan to see Grand Prismatic Hot Spring, don't plan to go there at 2 in the afternoon in the middle of the day when others may want to be there, right? Plan to go there early in the morning or later in the evening. But like Lamar Valley, Hayden Valley, you know, Norris-Kaiser Basin, there's these great other options in Yellowstone to see that you don't have to necessarily be at a specific time when most of the crowds will maybe be in that space.”
