According to the Wyoming Office of Tourism, the state is poised for another record-breaking summer tourism season.
10.1 million visitors came to Wyoming in 2014, and this year the state could see even more. Diane Shober, the Executive Director of the tourism office, says that it is thanks to a combination of strong advance booking numbers for national parks, an ongoing marketing campaign, and low gas prices.
"And so if I had a magic elixir and I could put all of those together, that’s what I’d come up with. These are all pointing toward a really strong summer season," says Shober.
Shober says what Wyoming residents love about the state are the same things that make it so appealing to tourists: wide open spaces, starry nights, friendly people, and small towns.
And Shober says having record numbers of tourists spending money on those quintessential Wyoming experiences could have real impacts on the state’s economy. Last year tourism generated $159 million in sales tax revenue for Wyoming’s state and local governments.