Micah Drew

(Daily Montanan) A record number of out-of-state visitors spent roughly $5 billion while traveling to Montana in 2024, money that drives one of the state’s strongest economic sectors through tourism-oriented businesses.

That’s according to the latest report on nonresident visitation to Montana conducted by the University of Montana’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research (ITRR), released last month. The quarterly nonresident research has been ongoing since 2009 and involved 11 surveyors conducting nearly 22,000 surveys at airports, rest areas and gas stations across the state in 2024.

In 2024, roughly 13.8 million visitors — a record number by a million — spent around 10% less during their travels through the state compared to 2023 , showing a lower impact to t

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