Back to Baseline: Utah’s Tourism Economy Rebounds

Utah’s private leisure and hospitality jobs are down 5% from 2019 totals and have rebounded faster than in the western U.S. and nation as a whole.

Private leisure and hospitality jobs in rural Utah had returned to baseline by the fall of 2020 despite surging COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

Transient room tax revenue surpassed baseline revenues in some of Utah’s tourism-heavy counties by October 2020; statewide, transient room tax revenue surpassed 2019 revenues in February 2021.

This spring, Utah hotel occupancy rates returned to pre-pandemic levels, while short-term rental occupancy rates have increased significantly from 2019, especially in rural cities and resort towns.

Over the past six months, Utah’s state and national parks have received an additional 2.1 million visitors compared with the same time frame in 2019.

Although air travel, urban travel, and business travel still lag behind baseline, experts believe all three will experience a full recovery sooner than originally estimated.