Final numbers: Tourism increased by 2.3%

Tourist numbers in Montana increased by about 2.3 percent last year, according to final numbers from the University of Montana’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research.

According to Kara Grau, ITRR’s assistant director of economic analysis, more than 11 million tourists visited Montana in 2013 and spent $3.62 billion in the state.

Nearly half of those tourists were in Montana in July through September. Travel groups spent about $163 per day on average during the summer months.

About a third of those visitors were in Montana primarily for vacation, 19 percent were visiting friends or relatives, 12 percent were on business and 31 percent were traveling through.

About 2 percent of the nonresident visitors came to Montana to shop, and 60 percent of those were from Canada.

The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research is funded with state bed tax dollars. For more information, visit online at www.itrr.umt.edu.