Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture In The Wild 2018, Carter Bermingham, Megan Schultz

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This study was conducted by Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild and for the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development to provide insight into the characteristics of attendees to the 2018 event. Paper surveys on site were completed by 397 attendees. Results show that 71% of respondents were residents of Montana and of those Montana residents, 96% were from outside of Lincoln. Out-of-town respondents spent an average of 3.05 nights away from home. Of those nights, an average of 2.08 of those nights were in the town of Lincoln. Restaurant and Bar purchases received the highest total dollars spent …

Gardiner, Montana: Visitor Perceptions, Image And Spending Before & After Development, Norma P. Nickerson, Carter Bermingham, Meredith S. Berry, Jeremy L. Sage

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Gardiner, Montana, the north gate to Yellowstone National Park, underwent infrastructure development before the 2016 centennial celebration of the National Park Service. This study represents a ‘before and after’ analysis of visitors’ images and spending patterns within Gardiner.

Montana's Outfitting Industry - 2017 Economic Contribution And Industry-Client Analysis, Jeremy L. Sage, Carter Bermingham, Norma P. Nickerson

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

In recent years, nonresident visitor spending on outfitters and guides has surpassed that of spending on retail goods, making it the fourth highest spending category behind only fuel, lodging, and dining out. This rise comes despite only five to six percent of the visiting population taking part in these activities. This observation reiterates findings from the 2007 Montana Outfitter and Guide study characterizing the outfitting industry as high value, low impact.

Though a small percent of visiting groups take part in some type of guided or outfitted experience, those who do stay longer and spend more per day. In 2017, …

Montana Dragon Boat Festival 2018, Megan Schultz, Carter Bermingham

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This study was conducted for the Kalispell Conventions and Visitor Bureau, to provide insight into the characteristics of attendees of the 2018 Montana Dragon Boat Festival. Paper surveys on site and a post-event web survey were completed by 397 attendees and/or participants of the event. Results show that 60% of respondents were residents of Montana and of those Montana residents, 49% were from Flathead County. Out-of-county respondents spent an average of 3.90 nights away from home. Of those nights, an average of 2.87 of those nights were in the city of Kalispell and 2.76 nights in other Flathead Valley locations …

2017 Economic Contribution Of Nonresident Travel Spending In Montana Regions And Counties, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Money spent by those traveling in Montana has an effect directly on the businesses where spending occurs, and it ripples throughout the state’s economy from there. Statewide, spending by nonresidents (averaged over two years) totaled $3.24 billion. This report details the methods and results of the economic impact analyses for each of Montana’s travel regions, as well as analyses for counties in which nonresident travelers spent approximately $50 million or more.

A Longitudinal Study Of Montanans’ Intrastate Travel Residents’ Monthly Reporting Of Travel, Jeremy L. Sage

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

The purpose of this report was to provide complementary data and information to the Resident Travel Study (Report 2018-6) by following a panel of 285 Montanans for the whole of 2017. This panel based study allowed for a deeper look at the traveling habits of the respondents through a series of monthly surveys administered online. This report highlights travel frequency, purpose, spending and destination characteristics.

Montana Tourism Trends And Forecasting, Jeremy L. Sage

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report presents the development of a Montana tourism forecasting model. We forecast not only annual nonresident visitors to the state, but also forecast recreation visits to both Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Monthly data between 1992 and 2014 are used in a General to Specific Modeling approach to establish regression coefficients that are then used to ex post forecast 2015-2017, and ex ante forecast 2018-2020 for Montana and 2018-2019 for the National Parks. The forecast models perform well and better than base comparisons using Naïve 1 and Naïve 2 methods as evaluated by Mean Absolute Percent Error (MAPE). Monthly …

Resident Travel In Montana, Kara Grau, Norma P. Nickerson, Jeremy L. Sage, Megan Schultz

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

The purpose of the study was to estimate annual resident travel within Montana, the spending volume of resident visitors to counties outside their residence (50 miles or more away from home), and to map the flow of resident travel within Montana. Montana residents took 13,547,000 day trips spending $1,662,620,000 and 4,013,000 overnight trips spending $1,206,970,000 for a total of nearly $2.87 billion on travel in Montana.

The Montana Expression 2018: Aquatic Invasive Species And Water Recreation, Norma P. Nickerson, Megan Schultz

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

The purpose of this study was to assess if Montanan’s had become more aware of the aquatic invasive species, mussels, in the state. Similar questions from the 2017 study (https://scholarworks.umt.edu/itrr_pubs/354/) were used to gauge change in awareness. All age groups of Montana residents became more aware of mussels. While 91 percent of Montana residents were aware of the boat check stations, only 71 percent were aware that all types of watercraft need to stop for inspections including kayaks and paddle boards. Overall, MT Fish Wildlife and Park’s message about invasive mussels in the state is being heard by …

The Montana Expression 2018: Mt Residents’ Use Of Fishing Access Sites & Public Lands And Waterways Values, Kara Grau, Megan Schultz

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report presents information gathered via surveys of Montana residents regarding their use of Fishing Access Sites in the state and their values related to public lands and waterways.

Trail Usage And Value - A Helena, Mt Case Study, Jeremy L. Sage, Norma P. Nickerson

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

The Mt. Ascension and Mt. Helena trail network provide a valuable outdoor recreation amenity to residents of, and visitors to, Helena. This report identifies the use and value of the trail system. Though 78 percent of trail use is by local residents, visitors to the region who used the trail system for hiking or biking spent over $4 million in the local area in the summer of 2017 (May-September).