Tourism benefits Idaho beyond the financial gains

Can you hear the cash registers ringing “ka-ching?”

Therein is the most important reason tourism is so vital to Idaho: economics. The more-than $3 billion industry benefits hoteliers, restaurateurs and many others. The added bonuses, however, may be somewhat less evident.

While it’s no secret the hospitality and travel segments of the economy provide jobs, the career possibilities can exceed perceived expectations. Karen Ballard, who has been the administrator of Tourism Development at the Idaho Department of Commerce since 2007, pointed out that tourism is a great source of entrepreneurialism.

“Travel – it’s your frontline, entry level job opportunity,” she said. “Typically, this industry will hire young people, or seniors. There are no barriers, so you can go far without a degree.”

“We get dismissed as not being as valuable as high-tech,” she continued, “but we fill the niche of filling all levels of employment. There’s also great potential for decent pay.”

Many people who now manage or own hotels or other travel-related entities started out in the business in a summer job capacity and worked their way up. She herself started out answering the phone at the front desk of a Sun Valley resort hotel. The proverbial career ladder can extend high in the tourism field.

Even people who own farms and ranches can open their homesteads up to visitors and become countryside CEOs of a sort – or at least bring in an additional revenue stream.

Another less obvious bonus is cultural preservation. By taking care of the things that attract visitors – the historical buildings and sights, or the natural beauty of an area – local inhabitants can maintain the integrity of their regions.

“A community can preserve its heart and soul,” Ballard said.

It can then share its “soul” with others while bringing in needed revenue. A few examples of this would be Paul Bunyon Days in Saint Maries, celebrating the region’s logging history, and the Egyptian Theatre and the Basque Block in Boise.

And then, there’s the way tourism can increase knowledge of the state among the untutored masses that dismiss it as the land of spuds and colored football fields. (“Not that there’s anything wrong with potatoes or blue turf,” Ballard said.)

Something particularly notable, the tourism administrator pointed out, is how the state fares on the friendliness scale when out-of-staters come here personally.

“Our best asset is the hospitality of our people; we hear from all our visitors how nice we are,” she stated.

The Gem State is also considered a pretty cost-effective adventure. “We are perceived to be a good value,” Ballard said.

She offered some bullet points of information about travel in the nation’s 43rd state:

• The No. 1 reason people travel is to visit friends and family. (That applies to all states.)

• A third of travelers in Idaho are residents here; others are mostly from nearby western states.

• Neighboring Washington state is an especially good market for Idaho tourism.

• The biggest international group visiting Idaho is Canadians. But Idaho works with other regional states to attract more visitors from European and other nations.

• Idaho publishes 140,000 tour guides annually. That figure is down from previous years but “that is a reflection of the web,” Ballard said.

Tourism in Idaho peaked in 2008, then started to decline in the wake of the nationwide economic malaise. Last year’s levels matched those of 2006. The good news is that tourism figures are now trending back up in 2010.

“We’re hearing news from the field it’s an excellent summer,” Ballard said.

The 2 percent bed tax on hotels is the best gauge of how tourism is going, according to Ballard. Phone call volume and requests for travel brochures are less formal indicators. Google Analytics is an effective tool, as rising website (see www.visitidaho.org), Facebook, Twitter and YouTube visits indicate increasing interest in the state.

The Department of Commerce tourism department actively uses social networking, according to Ballard.

The department has had to operate with tighter purse strings the past couple of years.

“Our budget went down; we’re coping with less,” said Ballard. “But advertising costs have also gone down – I could purchase more with less.”

She said the tourism industry, as a whole, knows how to soldier on through times of economic adversity.

“People in our industry are tough,” she said. “They’re good marketers. They know how to tighten their belts.”