Visitor spending in Whitefish reached an all-time high in July, according to VISA Destination Insights gathered by Explore Whitefish.  

July's visitor spending of about $15.65 million was up 23% from last July’s $12.74 million. July 2023 saw about $12.24 million in visitor spending.  

Visitor spending contributed 71% to the overall market share in July, and 60% year-to-date. The top five places of visitor origin in July were Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, Phoenix and Houston.  

International spending for July was tallied at $984,083, down slightly from last July's total of $986,782. Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and New Zealand were the top five places of visitor origin internationally. 

Explore Whitefish’s monthly marketing report attributed the overall high spending to traveling to Glacier National Park and the Under the Big Sky music festival, in addition to overall valley-wide population growth over the last five years.  

Both traditional lodging and short-term rental occupancy rates for July held steady year over year, with 76.22% for hotels and 80% for vacation rentals.  

The average daily rate for short-term rentals saw a large jump year over year, with prices rising 26.55%, soaring to $672 a day in July as compared to $531 in July 2024. 

Traditional lodgings' average daily rate also increased, but by a smaller margin of 9.52%. Traditional lodging was on average $364 a day in 2025, up from $332 in 2024. 

Whitefish Mountain Resort has seen strong visitation, solid lodging occupancy and plenty of interest in summer activities, said Chad Sokol, the resort's public relations manager.  

“In any given year, we expect to see fluctuations in the popularity of each activity. Our scenic zip line tours are up this summer, while the Aerial Adventure Park is down a bit, but in past years we've seen the opposite trends and that's to be expected,” he said.  

Also as expected, a rainy day in June can close alpine slides. But a rainy day can also bolster the conditions of the mountain bike trails, which are up in usage by about 12% compared to last year.  

The resort also saw the debut of a successful $10 downhill series, with some races held in collaboration with Flathead Area Mountain Bikers.  

The resort was in full summer operations through Labor Day. Only Chair 1 and the Summit House will be open during week days, with full operations up again just for the next two weekends. The resort will close for the summer season Sept. 14.