Uniquely Utah Policy Pillar 4
Capitalize on Utah’s natural environment, outdoor recreation and sports, and unique heritage and arts to attract workers and build the state’s tourism and film economies. Through these initiatives, Utah seeks to provide amenity assets and opportunities throughout Utah that allow people to live, work, recreate and thrive. Primary Goal: More positive community, physical and fiscal impacts resulting from Utah’s natural and amenity assets. Utah has a unique ability to leverage its environment to attract people and generate economic activity. For instance, travel and tourism represent about 12% of Utah’s private sector employment in 2017 and visitor spending exceeded $8 billion in 2015, according to the Kem C. Gardner Institute.2 The Utah Sports Commission reports that sponsored sporting events represented $184 million in economic impact for the state of Utah in 2018.3 The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported in data released September 2019, that Utah’s ranks among the top 10 states in the share of its gross domestic product generated through outdoor recreation.4 According to BEA, the industry cluster employs about 75,000 and generates average annual earnings of $37,857. Figure 10: Outdoor Recreation Contributes $5.5 billion to the Utah’s 2017 GDP
2
Jennifer Leaver, “The State of Utah’s Travel and Tourism Industry, 2017, Kem C. Gardner Institute, University of Utah, April 2017, p. 2.
3
Utah Sports Commission, https://www.utahsportscommission.com/about-us, downloaded September 24, 2019.
4
https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/outdoor-recreation
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