Busy summer boosts Resort Tax collections

Summer of 2012 appears to be a positive one for Whitefish tourism

Resort Tax collections in July were 14 percent higher than last year, making it the best July since the tax began in 1996. The $281,000 collected was the second highest month ever for Resort Tax collections. August 2011 remains the highest month.

Collections across the three categories were up for July compared with the same month last year. Bars and restaurants had the best month ever with about $95,000 collected. Retail had a strong month with $115,000 collected, and lodging did well with $71,000 collected, up 27 percent.

June, July and August typically represent the months when most Resort Tax dollars are collected.

The Resort Tax is generally a good reflection on how local tourism businesses fared through the summer

Terry Nelson with Whitefish Lake Golf Club said the club had a strong season that is continuing into this month.

“It turned out to be a good season,” he said. “The number of rounds played is up. The restaurant and food for July and August were record months.”

Canada continues to be a driving force, he noted, with many of the players coming from Alberta and British Columbia. Washington and Texas were also among the top customers.

“Other than the cold, wet June, we’ve had some of the best weather,” Nelson said. “The good weather and having no smoke have been good factors.”

Whitefish Mountain Resort added a number of new activities this summer including another zip line, an aerial adventure park and a kid’s climbing area.

Spokesperson Riley Polumbus said with all the new offerings it’s difficult to have a baseline, but the mountain was busy this summer.

“The zip line is always our most popular and this summer was no exception — it seemed even better than before,” she said. “The Base Lodge was busier and the Summit House was serving lots of food and beverages. As a whole it felt busy with more people.”

Polumbus noted that the season got off to a slow start with poor weather in June and early July. The resort’s new aerial adventure park opened in late July.

“The aerial course is very popular,” Polumbus said. “The first two weeks of August were really busy.”

Polumbus said visitors came from all over the country.

“We get a lot of repeat visitors from Canada,” she said. “Anyone who comes to Glacier Park at some point often comes up to the mountain and visitors to the Park are from all over the country.”

More than 1.7 million visitors passed through Glacier National Park from January through August. That was a 13 percent increase over the same time last year. From May through August the visitor counts were up.

Preliminary results from the Institute of Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana show a 6 percent increase in the number of travelers visiting the state for the first half of the year.

Hotel occupancy out performed the national average in both June and July.

Glacier Park International Airport numbers seem to be improving after the recession. Passenger volume in August was about 8 percent higher than in August 2011.