Local efforts underway to handle increased tourism

People are flocking to Northwest Montana like never before, and with increases in visitation come additional visitor dollars, traffic and impact in the Flathead Valley and its communities.

Tourism has long been an economic driver for the scenic state of Montana, with Glacier National Park drawing millions from across the country and world each year to visit the national gem and its surrounding communities.

In the last five years, visitation to Glacier has increased from 2.2 million visitors in 2013 to 3.3 million in 2017.

That 1 million-visitor difference comes into perspective when compared with the previous 10 years when visitation consistently hovered between around 1.7 million and 2 million per year.

According to Lauren Alley, spokesperson for Glacier Park, 3 million people also impact the park in several challenging ways, with traffic on Going-to-the-Sun Road limiting both public and emergency vehicle access. Preserving park vegetation is another challenge, as is the increase in wildlife encounters.

The dramatic upswing in Glacier visitation can diminish opportunities for solitude for those traveling to seek it. That flies in the face of the original intended purpose of national parks, which combined the protection and preservation of wild lands with public access of an isolated unique environment.

Though visitors pay to enjoy the park, Glacier operates as all national parks do, on fixed federal funding that has remained flat for the last 15 years.

Without the funds to hire more staff to help manage the growing tourist populations, Alley said volunteers and partners have become a critical asset in maintaining infrastructure, amenities, service and order.

Alley said the park continues its focus on deferred maintenance to try to keep up with visitor use and demand, and administration has begun working with area partners to encourage visitors to visit other regional and national public lands.

“These places belong to all of us as the American people and are set aside for generations that follow in our footsteps to enjoy as well,” Alley said. “As people visit them, they become invested in their future and grow that next generation of park stewards.”

Increased tourism has not only impacted the park but also the surrounding communities of the Flathead Valley.

According to the Institute of Tourism and Recreation Tourism at the University of Montana, non-resident visitors spent over $530 million in the Flathead County in 2017.

Those dollars primarily affected businesses such as restaurants, retail, hotel/motels, outfitters and guides, groceries, gasoline and car rentals.

Over 17,000 jobs in the Glacier Country region exist as a result of the tourism industry.

Spurred by the influx of tourist spending supplementing local revenue, the region’s growing economy has attracted both national retailers and new small businesses to the area.

Dylan Boyle, the executive director of the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau, noted that the amenities attracted and driven by visitors also contribute to the quality of life experienced by year-round residents.

“The sheer number of amenities, including top-notch restaurants, retail shops, trails systems, a world-class ski resort, direct air service, etc. is absolutely astounding for the size of our community,” Boyle said. “As residents, we would not have these types of amenities to enjoy without a thriving tourism economy.”

Kalispell recently welcomed two new breweries, a new distillery and branches of national chains such as REI, Panera Breads, Hobby Lobby, Home Goods and more.

Growth in visitor numbers has also prompted the improvement of amenities, including a new parking structure in Whitefish.

Still, growing visitation numbers translate into more people using the infrastructure, contributing to waste, adding to environmental impacts and taking up space.

In response to such growth and the potential it has to impact citizens, the spring of 2018 brought the establishment of the Whitefish Sustainable Tourism Management Committee comprised of a volunteer committee of the city of Whitefish.

The group’s goal is to ensure that tourism not only continues to grow, but does so in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way, according to Boyle.

Tasked with three main objectives, the committee sent out a survey to Whitefish residents to get community feedback on how best to preserve the quality of life and the quality of assets, improve economic benefits and improve visitor experience.

The committee hopes to release a plan in 2019 that will address the response from the survey.

According to Diane Medler, director of the Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau, Kalispell aims to maximize the economic benefit of tourism to the area by striving to bring in “high-value, low-impact visitors” to help maintain year-round stability for local businesses.

“We don’t strive to bring in large numbers of visitors, but visitors who will stay longer and spend more, positively contribute to our economy through spending at local businesses and also respect our natural environment and amenities,” she said.

Kalispell and other Flathead communities may soon have a larger pool of visitors to pull from as Glacier Park International Airport works to add more direct flights to and from Kalispell with the help of Glacier Airline Enhancement and Retention Outreach (AERO) organization.

AERO works with various airlines to help secure new flights to Glacier Park International through minimum revenue guarantee contracts, an agreement that ensures airlines against lost revenue on new flights. The group has secured flights to 11 hubs with four airlines to date and this year aims to raise $330,000 to put toward new contracts, their sights set on new direct flights to Dallas/Fort Worth, Southern California, Portland and Phoenix.

The Glacier Park International Airport also recently announced plans for expansion to accommodate the growing number of tourists and improve its capability to host larger airlines and provide more flights to accommodate predictions of record-breaking numbers of people flying in and out of Kalispell.

Current growth estimates, according to Ratkowski, indicate that 15 years from now, Glacier Park International could see passenger volumes that rival Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, the busiest airport in the state.

Plans for the expanded airport include more space for all aspects of the terminal, including an enlarged upper level capable of accommodating up to seven jet bridges.

“Non-resident visitors contribute a lot, so it’s important that we’re able to have the flights to get them here all year,” Medler said. “I think all the indicators show that visitation is growing and will continue to grow, so it’s good to be prepared for that.”

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.