In the works
KURT WILSON, Missoulian
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Tourism industry adopts wait and see DAVID ERICKSON david.erickson@missoulian.com
businesses compared to other places in the country.
The Montana economy is largely dependent on tourism, and that industry has been temporarily ruined by the coronavirus shutdowns. But local officials are hoping to keep people’s minds on the Treasure State when they think about trips many months from now. There also seems to be signs that there have been fewer longterm cancellations for Montana tourism
“As you can imagine, this pandemic has been absolutely devastating to the tourism industry across the world,� explained Barb Neilan, the executive director of Destination Missoula, the local tourismpromoter. “As a destination marketing organization, it has required us to step back, because our mission has always been to bring people in for economic growth. So
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MISSOULA BUSINESS • SPRING 2020
we’ve had to re-evaluate.� Neilan was on Talk Back, a radio show hosted by Newstalk KGVO in Missoula recently to discuss the state of the tourism industry. She was joined by Jim McGowan, the CEO of Windfall, an ad agency that works with Destination Missoula. Their message was that things are dire right now, but there’s hope for the long-term future. Nearly 94% of Montana’s travel-related businesses said they’ve been impacted by
the virus, according to a survey conducted March 11-27 by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana. The survey found that roughly 83% of businesses saw cancellations in the last two weeks of March and first part of April. The hardest hit industries were accommodations and outfitters and guides. “We changed our focus,� Neilan continued. “We’re telling people not to come to Missoula right now. Everyone
