Wyoming recorded more hotel bookings and travelers who come to the welcome centers. The data suggest that the state is going to experience rising tourism numbers.
Wyoming is covered with a vast area of mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains in its western part. On the other hand, the Eastern part of the state is covered by a prairie called High Plains. Cheyenne, the capital city, has an estimated population of about 60,000 people.
Just like any part of the world, tourism plays a very important role in Wyoming. Coupled with the above features, the Yellowstone National Park has been identified as one of the major tourism attraction sites.
Following the 2009 global financial recession, Wyoming's level of tourism fell sharply which had a very negative impact on a state that was doing very well. However, as a result of the stabilizing market and economy, things are looking good now as far as tourism is concerned.
According to the executive director of the Campbell County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mary Silvernell, the level of tourism activities is currently on the rise. For instance, most of the tourist attraction sites such as Wright Visitor Centre and Gillette Visitor Centre have seen a direct rise in the number of visitors.
Last month, a total of 1200 people had visited the Wright Visitor Center while 1000 tourists came to the center over the whole year of 2012. According to Silvernell, this is attributed to the improved design of the center. Silvernell also states that with the increasing number of activities and festivals, the state is heading to greatness.
All these indicate that 2013 will be an exemplary year for Wyoming in terms of tourism.
Thanks to full capacities of Wright hotels but different kind of stays (long term ones), Silvernell said that they ended last year in 5% under their expectations.
Dean Runyan from an economic and market research organization reported the following figures for Wyoming’s tourism in 2012 - 8 million visitors, $3.1 billion of total spending with overall 4% better result than in 2011.
Park and Teton counties captured more than 50% of all accommodations as tourism is economy's most important field in both counties and they're doing their best to achieve better results year after year.
Yellowstone Park also had a great tourism summer in 2012, by the words of state travel and tourism director Diane Shober, with 25% more visitors (bookings and reservations) then in 2011.
The Cheyenne Visitor's center attracted about a 1000 visitors daily when it was situated in south Cheyenne. Since its relocation to the High Plains Visitors Welcome Center it is now attracting up to 5000 visitors on a daily basis and as a result this attracts a lot of revenue.
Now promotion consists of the distribution of stickers that depict landmarks, which are inclusive of places such as Grand Tetons or Devils Tower. These stickers are like souvenirs for visitors.
Where southwest Wyoming is concerned Green River center distributes flyers amongst visitors asking them to revisit. The director of the Chamber of Commerce of Green River revealed that as many as 50 stickers were given away recently.
The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center also stated that it is expecting many visitors in the summer. This center is independent and in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Land Management and the National Historic Trails Center Foundations.