SALT LAKE CITY — Business was booming for Utah's tourism industry last year, with the state shattering spending records despite softening in other travel segments.
The new report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute showed that visitors spent $13.7 billion in Utah in 2025, a 0.6% increase from the year before. According to the report, domestic and international travel into Utah outpaced resident visitor spending by more than 4-to-1.
What made the numbers more impressive is that they came as other indicators, such as air travel and overall visitation, were down after growth during the post-pandemic years.
To bring home the point about tourism softening, the report highlighted that visits to Utah's "Mighty 5" national parks had decreased by 4.5% last year, and state park visits had dropped by 5.8%.
“Utah’s tourism economy demonstrated considerable resilience in 2025,” said the Institute's Jennifer Leaver. “While some of the headline visitation measures declined, visitor spending, employment, and tax generation remained strong, suggesting that Utah’s tourism industry is moving into a more normalized environment rather than a broad-based downturn.”
Tourism also generated $1.6 billion in state and local tax revenue last year, with the report adding that when indirect and induced economic effects are included, the tax impact jumped to $2.7 billion.
"The figures underscore that tourism’s impact extends well beyond hotels, restaurants, and attractions to communities and businesses throughout the state," the report shared.
Overall, the tourism industry accounted for 107,500 jobs in Utah in 2025.
