Candidates for the 2013 Montana Legislature were given the rundown on how crucial the tourism industry is to the state’s economy during a breakfast roundtable discussion at Flathead Valley Community College Wednesday.

The event was sponsored by Voices of Montana Tourism, a collaboration of 21 statewide organizations formed after the last legislative session.

Some of the speakers are directly tied to the tourism industry, while others’ links are more tangential. Their presence highlighted how tourism affects almost all areas of life in the Flathead Valley.

The presentation by Luke Walrath, executive director of Whitefish’s Alpine Theatre Project, applied to more than one theme of the event.

“I’m the classic example of someone who visits here as a tourist, then relocates, and then wants to add to the community,” he said. “Montana changed my dream.”

Walrath told the group that the arts provide an unexpected bonus for visitors and local businesses alike. The arts give tourists an experience they are not necessarily looking for in Montana, increasing the length of some tourists’ stays as their activity choices increase.

“In 2011, our economic impact in the valley was $1.6 million,” Walrath said. “That’s from something that many people believe is only a luxury.”

Ted Hirsch, Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s senior executive director, talked about not only luring Canadian patients to the valley as part of a medical-tourism trend, but Americans from other states as well.

“Compared to other states, Montana ranks third or fourth from the bottom in charges,” he said. “And the Flathead Valley then is one of the lowest-charging counties in the state.”

Hirsch said Kalispell Regional Medical Center is seeing 10 to 12 “medical tourism” patients per month, primarily from Calgary. He pointed out that Canadians and many American medical patients, even after paying lodging bills, are saving money on medical procedures.

Other presenters in tourism-industry businesses shared some of what they contribute to the Flathead Valley economy.

Dan Graves, president of Whitefish Mountain Resort, said the resort’s annual wages alone add up to $5.86 million, plus it pays $168,000 in bed taxes and $405,000 in property taxes. These numbers don’t begin to take into account the support of a number of local vendors the local ski industry supports, he said.

Swan Mountain Outfitters general manager Aubrie Lorona said her business is part of a wider United States outdoor recreation industry that has grown 5 percent per year from 2005 to 2011; 90 percent of its customers are nonresident visitors.

A number of people at the roundtable emphasized how crucial air traffic is to the area and wondered if legislation could have any part in bringing increased flights to the area.

Jan Metzmaker, director of the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that there is really only one bottom line with airports, which operate completely within the confines of profit and loss.

“They don’t care how cute your community is,” she said.

In spring and fall, she said, it is difficult to support air business here, which is why institutions and businesses such as Flathead Valley Community College, Applied Materials and Kalispell Regional Healthcare keep air traffic going in the shoulder seasons, making them indirect boosters of the local tourism industry.

State Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, a Republican running for re-election in Senate District 3 and the Senate’s current president pro tempore, spoke to the issue of the bed tax, which was created by the 1987 Legislature. The lodging tax is now at 7 percent, 57 percent of which is used to promote the state as a tourist destination. During the 2011 session, two bills that would have reduced and destabilized the lodging tax funds used to promote Montana passed in the House and Senate but were vetoed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

“I see no reason anyone will go after the bed tax,” Tutvedt said. “No one is going after your money; we are big supporters of tourism.”

Mary Paoli of Voices of Montana Tourism emphasized the worth of tourism to the state and how important marketing has been in  shaping the situation. In 1987, prior to the passing of the lodging tax, Montana ranked toward the bottom of all states in tourism marketing, and there were 3 million travelers in Montana every year. In recent years, that number has grown to 10.5 million travelers to the state.

On the revenue side, the state collected $1 billion from visitors in 1987; nonresident travel expenditures have risen to about $2.8 billion.  

“It’s like agriculture. You have to plant in the spring to harvest in the fall,” Paoli said of the need to invest in tourism marketing.

Business reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.