Is Utah’s tourism trade recovering now that there’s a COVID-19 vaccine?

Rising vaccination rates in the US are helping to revive flight and hotel bookings across the country, but a full recovery of the $ 10 billion travel and tourism industry in Utah is likely years away.

And while Utah’s unique natural asset has helped fuel the sector amid COVID-19 conditions that sparked unprecedented interest in and travel to outdoor destinations, the state’s urban centers have been hit hardest and slowest by the pandemic his recover.

A late April economic report from Adobe Analytics found that the widespread use of COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States, combined with fresh cash infusions delivered to most residents through another round of federal incentive payments, is contributing to an increase in travel expenses.

According to the report, U.S. airline bookings rose 111% and hotel bookings increased 50% over the same period in March in the weeks leading up to the vaccine’s launch in late 2020. Travel also increased significantly compared to the first two months of the new year. Flight bookings in March 2021 were up 57% from February and 79% from January, Adobe reported. Meanwhile, hotel bookings rose 41% in March versus February and 54% in January.

Salt Lake City Airport outperformed the rest of the country during the pandemic. Although passenger traffic was down 38% in March from 2019, the facility significantly outperformed other U.S. airports, which together were 48% slower than 2019.

Bill Wyatt, executive director of Salt Lake City International Airport, said the numbers for his facility are positive Completed the first phase of a massive $ 4.1 billion rebuild last September, are a little deceiving as the airport saw an unusual increase in connection traffic due to changes to other hubs in west coast cities.

However, he also noted that Utah’s portfolio of world-class outdoor recreational facilities helped fuel interest in travel to the state even before significant numbers of US residents had received any vaccinations. And he expects the trend to continue.

“I think we’re going to have a really strong summer here,” said Wyatt. “We got a foretaste of it this winter … and we were among the destinations that did relatively well in terms of air traffic.

“It’s not a big surprise at all. Our ski, national, and state parks … this is a place where people can come and be outdoors and feel relatively safe. And I think the momentum will definitely continue. “

Forward-looking data in a recent report from Salt Lake Airport This reflects that airlines are also optimistic about the Salt Lake market and are currently planning at least as many flights from Utah’s capital in May and June as in 2019. However, this appears to be an isolated US air traffic overall, domestic departures are likely Decrease by 20% to 30% in May and June based on airlines’ current flight schedules.

Travelers stroll through Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 3, 2021. Newrest offers catering on board. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Vicki Varela, executive director of the Utah Tourism Bureau, said much of the state’s outdoor tourism industry has recovered from the worst effects of the pandemic as those who suffered from the aftermath of months of isolation at home, in the parks, wilderness and recreational areas of the state were looking for rest and rejuvenation. Now, she said, the focus of her office is on making sure the state is getting out of the other side of the public health crisis in a better, more sustainable way, rather than just returning to the pre-pandemic status quo.

“I would say the most important thing we think about every day at the Utah Tourism Office is not so much recovering as we are about how recovery can lead to better things for the Utah communities and visitors to Utah,” said Varela. “We are able to focus on … the quality of the experience.”

A long-running and hugely successful Mighty 5 tourism campaign with the state’s five national parks has helped put Utah on the global travel destination map at one of the few expected levels. Now the new Forever mighty campaign strives to balance further growth with messaging, which underlines the responsibility and connected experiences for visitors. And it’s one that Varela says blends well with the mood of many people seeking a pandemic-motivated outdoor refuge in Utah.

“The visitors we want to attract are people who are curious and respect nature,” said Varela. “People who … have immersive experiences and who will be interested in both intense adventure and self-education.”

Varela also noted that while Utah’s outdoor travel destinations are some of the most popular in the world, the entire travel and tourism sector in the state is in large part determined by activity in urban centers, particularly the once-brisk congress traffic to and from Salt Lake City and other metro hangouts.

“This is an area that is still pretty desperate and will take some time,” said Varela. “Our urban convention centers are a very important part of this complex puzzle and account for about half of our revenue (temporary room tax). And it could be a few more years before we get back to pre-pandemic levels in this arena.

“While when people think of Utah’s visitor attractions that ‘Greatest Snow on Earth’ and Red Rock Country usually come to mind first, our convention districts are some of the hardest working parts of our visitor economy. And it will be a long time before major conventions return. “

The Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, March 22, 2021. Annie Barker, Deseret News

In a new blog postJennifer Leaver, senior tourism analyst at the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, described the comeback of the visitor economy in Utah as “a story of two tourism rejuvenations.”

“As the travel season approaches, there’s a lot of talk about growing savings accounts and pent-up demand for travel,” Leaver wrote. “While it is difficult to know how quickly vaccinations will bring the tourism industry to full recovery, there is a clear discrepancy between Utah’s rebound rates for urban and rural travel.”

Leaver released new data reflecting a large discrepancy between tourist activity in Utah’s rural area and Salt Lake City, the state’s premier convention organizer. While room occupancy rates in and around the Gateway community of Zion National Park in Springdale are between 70% and 85% this spring, performing better than in the same period in 2019, hotel occupancy rates in downtown Salt Lake City are in the basement and it was around 50% in the last two months.

Leaver also compared employment data for recreational and hospitality workers in Salt Lake City with that in St. George, a city near several popular states and national parks. Workers in the St. George area, whose jobs depend on tourism traffic, have been back to pre-pandemic levels since last November and even increased beyond 2020 in the first three months of the new year, but the number of travel workers in Salt Lake City and leisure businesses are still down more than 8% from pre-COVID-19 levels.

Meanwhile, Utah’s state and national parks are in tears and showing no signs of slowing.

Traffic in Utah State Parks was over 100% above 2019 levels for three consecutive months (December 2020 to February 2021). And while national parks are not quite as booming, traffic in these areas increased 70 in January from 2019 % and compared to last January by 41%.

While the differences between Utah’s urban and rural visitor traffic patterns currently vary widely, Leaver is optimistic that the future remains bright for the city-centric visitor economy.

“I believe that despite risk aversion and the ‘zoom boom’ triggered by the pandemic, the Utah urban travel market has many things to offer, including a major airport redesign / expansion, a new convention hotel due to open in 2022, and A great marketing team (Visit Salt Lake) that knows how and when to pan, ”wrote Leaver.

On Friday, April 16, 2021, tourists line up to enter Arches National Park in Moab. Annie Barker, Deseret News