Cheaper fuel prices in 2015 spurred more non-resident travel to Montana compared to the previous year, but tourists left a lot of their savings behind in the form of increased spending while visiting the state.

That was the good news shared by a University of Montana researcher who spoke at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday.

Kara Grau, assistant director for the university’s Institute of Tourism and Recreation Research, spoke on the economic measurements of 2015. She was joined on the program by Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow, who discussed national park events that could help shape the tourism economics of the upcoming season.

Grau said the institute is currently taking in data from the first quarter of 2016, while preparing to dig into 2015 data for more precise interpretations that can be applied locally.

“We just recently wrapped up looking at quarter one data in terms of trends,” Grau said. “We’re going to be taking deeper looks at that data as we look closely at spending and how that is spread around the state.”

Delving into the 2015 data showed a decrease in non-resident spending overall, but also an increase in non-resident travelers. In 2015, 11.7 million tourists spent about $3.66 billion in Montana, compared to $3.9 billion spent in 2014 by 10.9 million tourists. Gasoline and fuel accounted for 20 percent of non-resident spending, 18 percent was spent on restaurants and bars and 11 percent was spent on retail purchases.

The decline in spending at first seems alarming, but Grau said when researchers subtracted spending on fuel, the numbers told a different story.

“When you look at what travelers are spending money on other than fuel, then there’s a 10 percent increase [in tourist spending],” she said.

That 10 percent increase was seen across many different tourism markets such as lodging, entrance fees and food. One rising market that Grau expects to continue growing is locally produced goods and services. According to survey information collected by the institute, travelers who purchased Montana-made products spent an average $296 per day, opposed to an average $185 per day spent by those who didn’t purchase local goods and services. Currently, this group accounts for about 16 percent of all tourists.

Extracting fuel from the overall equation may sound like cherry picking, but Grau said the state business community can better examine the parts that they can control, unlike the fuel costs. And of course, cheaper fuel actually encourages travel, thus partly explaining the higher number of visitors in 2015.

“People in the state who are business owners, restaurant owners, hotel owners, can have more control over all of those things,” Grau said. “They can do their marketing in a way that’s more beneficial to them, like set their prices in ways that are cost-beneficial, whereas fuel is pretty much out of their control.”

As the summer tourist season approaches, the hotel market is one that will look to accommodate the next potentially record-high visitation year.

The Hampton Inn & Suites in Whitefish opened its doors to tourists nearly a month ago, and Flathead Valley expects to open three more new hotels before the height of the summer tourism season this year: one in Kalispell, one in Whitefish and one in Columbia Falls.

Grau said in the Gallatin County market, a similar surge of hotels around Bozeman actually forced older hotels to lower their prices or upgrade their facilities in order to be competitive. Grau warned local hotel owners that similar action might be needed in the near future, as travelers generally prefer to stay in newer lodging facilities. She did point out that hotel prices in Bozeman are returning to their starting point after being lower for a few years, however.

Flathead County is the No. 1 spot for non-resident spending in the state, and a lot of that has to do with Glacier National Park. Superintendent Mow discussed the upcoming plans and events for the park’s summer season.

Those plans include an initiative to help local students visit Glacier National Park. The park has applied for 40 travel grants to help fund the initiative, which would assist children in under-served communities and schools make the trip to Glacier in coming years. The idea stemmed from a nationwide effort called “Every Kid in a Park,” which provides a free pass to fourth-graders around the country.

Other plans included working with the native tribes like the Blackfeet, Salish and Kootenai to create events and programs that promote traditional values. Mow said that the Native American presence has been strong in and around the park since it was founded in 1910, and he wants to strengthen those bonds.

“Our native peoples and the national park go together,” Mow said. “I think there’s some opportunity there and we’re just beginning on that journey with our tribal partners.”

In about a month, Mow said Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park just across the Canadian border will be designated as the first international and trans-boundary dark sky protected area. These areas adopt outdoor lighting ordinances that protect night sights like the Milky Way or the Northern Lights to be sustained for generations of visitors to enjoy, he said.

Mow also echoed sentiments he made at the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce lunch in early May regarding the park’s centennial. While more travelers continue to visit Glacier Park each year, Mow and park staff will be looking to help shed some of that visiting population to the gateway communities to ease work on the park staff, wildlife and resources.

“Partnership is really so important to how we get our jobs done today in the conservation world. Whether it’s with tourism, partnerships with specific species, a multitude of things,” Mow said. “Glacier National Park isn’t big enough to solve these things on our own. It’s only through partnership that we’re going to make some movement, make some headway and solve some of these issues.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at [email protected].