Some tourists visiting Utah are making Price their home base when they are unable to find affordable lodging in Moab. That information was contained in a report by SueAnn Martell at the Price City Council meeting of September 30.
Martell and her husband Darrin Teply operate The Eastern Utah Tourism and History Association in Price. She also observed that local visitation did not decline as much as expected during the winter months last year as tourists adjusted their plans because of a lack of snow at ski resorts and instead, traveled to destinations in southern and eastern Utah.
Founded in 2008 by a group of local tourism professionals and interested citizens, The Eastern Utah Tourism and History Association is not funded by any government agency but is a grass roots, nonprofit independent entity. In 2014 EUTHA opened a visitors information center at the top of the hill in Price, offering brochures, books, DVDs, souvenirs and gifts. Tours to local historic sites are also available.
Martell says they have hosted nearly 2,600 visitors from all over the United States and more than a dozen foreign countries, and many have been convinced to stay in Price and explore Nine Mile Canyon and the San Rafael Swell. She says, “They’re planning their entire visits around rock art. Nine Mile Canyon is a hot place right now. It’s always a must-see.” She believes engaging the visitor is effective in convincing them to stay in the local area. Many visitors are fascinated with local history, especially the more notorious characters from the past, such as Butch Cassidy, Matt Warner and C.L.“Gunplay” Maxwell.
The couple have just published a third book, “The Ghosts of Eastern Utah,” and produce a “Sunday History Bite” on local history, a local attraction, ghost story or legend. The articles are found on the EUTHA facebook page. There is also a website, www.eutha.org.
Shalee Johansen, Director of the Carbon County Office of Tourism, also has good news to report: local collections of the transient room tax and restaurant tax, both indicators of tourism activity, are up in 2015 according to the Utah State Tax Commission. She noted a huge jump in collections during July. She said, “So I started calling around to the hotels and I said, where were the bookings coming from? Tour buses were just coming through. So here we are, third year since we’ve been going and selling the area and they’re finally coming- they’re finally starting to stay overnight, and these numbers do not lie.”
The July numbers include $30,801.23 in restaurant tax collections, compared to an average of slightly more than $18,000 in the preceding months, and $39,541.13 in transient room tax revenue, which compares to the average of about $16,000.
Johansen said a lot is not typical tourism. “It’s these school groups we bring or these business groups we bring for a three-day convention and the general public and the community don’t see those people.”
The Carbon County Office of Tourism is funded solely by the TRT and restaurant taxes.
There has also been a modest increase in local museum visitation. The Helper Western Mining and Railroad is showing a five percent increase in visitation, and a 17 percent increase in gift shop sales during the first nine months of the 2015, with big increases in May and September. The Prehistoric Museum in Price also experienced an increase in visitation during May, when 2,771 people took the tour. That compares to May of fiscal year 2014 when there were 2,498 visitors.
Visitation is up in three of five nearby state parks, according to Public Information Officer Eugene Swalberg. Goblin Valley State Park led the way with 140,292 visitors in fiscal year 2015, compared to 109,593 in fiscal year 2014.
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