Utah is still the place! Tourism rebounds in '21

Brice Wallace 

Despite lingering troubles from the COVID-19 epidemic in 2021, Utah’s outdoor recreation economy rebounded with 27.3 percent growth when compared to figures from 2020.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released 2021 economic data that showed that outdoor recreation created $6.1 billion{mprestriction ids="1,3"} in economic output in Utah. It also accounted for 2.7 percent of Utah GDP and the industry employed 66,736 people in the state.

The figures are the largest for Utah since the BEA started calculating the size of the outdoor recreation economy in 2012.

The outdoor rec industry also employed about 4 percent of Utahns in 2021.

Utah’s top outdoor rec activities are snow activities; boating and fishing; RVing; hunting, shooting and trapping; and motorcycling and ATVing, according to the report.

“Time and time again, the outdoor recreation industry has been a consistent economic and jobs driver for Utah, and our communities throughout the state are seeing the economic benefits from access to the outdoors,” said Tara McKee, associate director of grants and planning at the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation.

“These numbers confirm what we’ve seen on the ground: People are flocking to the outdoors like never before, and we will continue to work to ensure that all Utahns can live a healthy and active lifestyle through outdoor recreation.”

The report indicates that “conventional” outdoor recreation activities in Utah totaled $2.6 billion in 2021. Broken down, snow activities contributed $519.4 million, followed by RVing, $390.8 million; boating/fishing, $387.5 million; game areas (including golf and tennis), $264.5 million; festivals/sporting events/concerts: $98.4 million; and amusement parks/water parks, $83.6 million.

Nationwide, outdoor recreation generated $862 billion in economic output, comprised 3 percent of U.S. employees, featured 4.5 million jobs, and was 1.9 percent of GDP in 2021, according to the report. That puts outdoor rec economy ahead of farming, oil and gas extraction, mining and utilities as an economic contributor.

For comparison, during the COVID year of 2020, the industry had an economic output of $689 billion in economic output and had 4.3 million jobs.

The 2021 data, the fifth year for BEA to release data on the industry sector, shows how the outdoor industry, which played a vital economic and social role throughout the pandemic, has since sustained remarkable growth and continued to bolster local economies, BEA said. The outdoor recreation economy came back stronger than ever after the COVID-19 pandemic and remains a steady source of strength nationally and a booming job creator locally.

“The BEA data underscores how important it is to invest in public lands, waters and recreation infrastructure from coast to coast and for recreation activities of all types,” said Jessica Turner, president of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable. “From the creation of jobs and increased profit for small businesses in local economies to larger boons to our national economy, this sector is a consistent driver, even in times of economic uncertainty.

“The strength of the outdoor recreation economy reflects what many in the industry have long known to be true: There are infinite benefits that come from more people spending time outdoors, and they’ll only grow with continued investment.”

Among components of the industry nationally in 2021 were RVing, $48.2 billion; boating, $37.2 billion; hunting, shooting and trapping, $18.4 billion; motorcycling and ATVing, $16.2 billion; equestrian activities, $12.2 billion; fishing, $11.3 billion; climbing, hiking and tent camping, $8.8 billion; biking, $6.2 billion; skiing and snowboarding, $5.9 billion; snowmobiling and other snow activities, $5.1 billion; and canoeing and kayaking, $2 billion.

“The latest BEA numbers are a testament to the power of outdoor recreation, and we are thrilled to see our industry’s economic impact grow,” said Chris Metz, CEO of Vista Outdoor Inc., the parent company of 41 outdoor and sporting product brands. “This data shows that people continued to venture into the outdoors for health, wellness and adventure in record numbers last year as businesses across the industry worked to expand participation and bring more people into the outdoors.

“The goal now: Build on that momentum. We will stay focused on increasing access to public lands, building more recreation infrastructure, and growing participation across all outdoor activities.”{/mprestriction}