Even though Montana brought in a record number of visitors last year who spent more money than ever, the state’s tourism focus is as much about quality as it is about quantity.

That sentiment shaped Montana Department of Commerce Director Meg O’Leary’s comments Tuesday as she addressed the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.

“What we love ... is that it’s not bringing in the hordes,” she said. “We, as Montanans, are kind of protective of things that we hold near and dear. I hear this everywhere I go: ‘Don’t overrun the place.’ So we’re not interested in bringing in a whole lot of people. What we’re interested in is quality.

“So when we see that the spend is 10 percent more, we think that our messaging of ‘stay one more night, eat three more meals, hit the retail store ...’ we really think that’s working, and that’s a focus that we’ll continue to have,” O’Leary said. “It’s so much easier to get people to stay than it is to go out and spend a bunch of money to drive new visitation when we’re competing with so many other destinations.”

O’Leary encouraged the progress of the Glacier Airline Enhancement and Retention Outreach, a group of local businesses and community organizations focused on expanding commercial air service to the Flathead Valley.

“It’s important that all of us are participating in commercial air service,” she said. “I really congratulate you on having a vision and a road map and keep plugging at it. Keep at it.”

Alaska Airlines has partnered with Glacier Park International Airport to bring direct service from Kalispell to Portland beginning June 9. The valley will then have nine different flights to major U.S. cities, including Salt Lake City, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas and Oakland.

With more than two decades of experience as marketing director for the Big Sky Ski Resort, O’Leary said she boiled down her focal points for marketing the state to four key areas when she was appointed to her current office by Gov. Steve Bullock. She outlined those points for the Chamber audience:

v The international traveler: “The thing that’s really important is that we consider Canada international,” O’Leary said.

“We also know that if there’s one thing that we as a government can do to help this community is to facilitate trade between this area and Alberta,” she said. “We will rework marketing dollars, personnel efforts, and make sure that we’re doing the background and market research so that our message is relevant to these international travelers. Look for a focus from the tourism division under my leadership with that.”

v Snow: “It’s a natural resource. It’s something that a lot of the planet that travels might not experience or might not know. If we can get out there and use this snow as a way to market what we have that other destinations don’t, then we’re going to be a leg up.”

O’Leary also stated that summer tourism business in the Flathead Valley is extremely successful, but there’s a lot of room to grow over the winter months.

“We know there’s a whole contingent of people across the continent that travel during the winter months, so it’s an opportunity to fill places like this. We need to try to spread the wealth out a little bit.”

v The meeting and convention market: O’Leary said there’s a lot of opportunity to drive the meeting and convention business to Montana because it brings people from other regions that otherwise would not be here spending money.

“It drives airline seat sales, hotel sales, retail, gas, the whole works,” she said. “Meeting and convention is a very challenging market to get into, but there are huge reasons that we should be out talking about our properties, especially at places like this right next to Glacier National Park.”

v The film industry: This might be challenging for Montana, because some states give tax breaks for hosting a film site. O’Leary said the state will look at the second tier of the film industry, including documentary films, YouTube channels and commercials.

“Look for an aggressive effort on behalf of the film commission to get us out there and on the big screen. If we can move the needle on these four [focal points], then I think we’re going to be successful,” she said.

O’Leary and the Governor’s Office recently have been touting the state’s stellar performance in the tourism arena in 2013. The number of visitors was up more than 2 percent from 2012 — equal to more than 11 million visitors. Those visitors spent over 10 percent more than in 2012.

Reporter Brittany Brevik may be reached at bbrevik@dailyinterlake.com.