Source: The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at The University of Montana (ITRR)

Nonresident Winter Travelers to Montana: 2000-2001," report was prepared from a survey of nonresident visitors to Montana who were intercepted at gas stations and airports from December 2000 through March 2001. There were 1,258 initial interviews conducted, and 477 people returned a completed questionnaire in the mail for a 38 percent response rate.

The full report, "Nonresident Winter Travelers to Montana: 2000-2001," is available online at www.forestry.umt.edu/itrr. Some of the more interesting tidbits are:

• The typical winter visitor to Montana pumps about $111 per day into the state's economy.
  
• Typical nonresident winter visitors stayed in the state 3.1 nights, had 2.4 people their travel party and had household incomes of $60,000 to $80,000.
• The most common primary reason for visiting Montana in the winter was passing through (29 percent), followed by vacation (23 percent), business (18 percent) and visiting friends and relatives (16 percent).
• Visitors were most likely to be from North Dakota or Wyoming, followed by Washington state and Alberta, Canada. Ninety-five percent had been to Montana before and 96 percent planned to visit again in the next two years.
• Yellowstone National Park was visited by 31 percent of all vacationers, while the Flathead Lake area earned trips from 23 percent of vacationers. People visiting friends and relatives tended to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield (20 percent) and Yellowstone National Park (14 percent). People passing through the state did not spend time visiting sites in Montana during the winter
• Twenty-two percent of the visitors flew for part of their trip. Those who drove stayed on the Interstates. Interstate 90 between Billings and Bozeman was the most-traveled segment of the state, with 33 percent driving that stretch. U.S. Highway 191 between Bozeman and Big Sky was the most heavily traveled two-lane road, with 12 percent of nonresident travelers taking that road.
• Visitors stayed overnight in Billings (32 percent) more often than any other community in the state.
• For pre-trip planning, visitors felt that private businesses (36 percent) and the Internet (35 percent) provided the most useful information.
• Shopping was the activity participated in the most (41 percent), followed by downhill skiing annd gambling (12 percent each)
• Visitors were satisfied with travel conditions, such as road conditions, directional signs, hospitality, commercial lodging availability and availability of travel information. They were least satisfied with the quality of rest areas.
• The number of visitors participating in some activities has declined substantially. Snowmobiling dropped from 19 percent to 6 percent from 1998 to 2001. In the past four years, wildlife watching dropped from 24 percent to 17 percent, and downhill skiing dropped from 20 percent to 12 percent. Gambling dropped from 16 percent to 12 percent from 1993 to 2001.
• Winter visitation to Yellowstone National Park has held steady at 13 percent over the years, but visitation to Glacier National Park has increased from 2 percent in 1993 to 9 percent in 2001.

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