NEWS

Booming travel expected this weekend in Montana, U.S.

Peter Johnson
pjohnson@greatfallstribune.com
A car leaves the Loaf ’n Jug in downtown Great Falls after fueling up on Thursday.

Like their fellow Americans, Montanans are expected to take to roads and airways during the three-day Fourth of July weekend to reach lakes, mountains and other places to relax or watch parades and firework shows.

The travel group AAA projects 42 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Independence Day weekend, the highest travel level since 2007, before the Great Recession.

"This Independence Day, Montanans will get in their cars, board airplanes and take buses, trains and cruise ships to celebrate our nation's freedom with friends and family," said Anna O'Donnell, AAA MountainWest spokeswoman.

AAA experts attribute that to rising income levels driven by a strong employment market as well as gas prices that remain well below those of a year ago.

Both factors are present in Montana.

Loaf ’n Jug’s gas prices are displayed on its sign in downtown Great Falls on Thursday.

The state's unemployment rate has decreased from 4.7 percent in May 2014 to 3.9 percent in May 2014.

And, although the average Montana fuel price has climbed about 15 cents in the last month to $2.79 a gallon, it's still about 83 cents a gallon below the average price at the pump a year ago in Montana of $3.62 a gallon.

"The recent mild winter and early spring definitely gave our traditional tourism season a jump-start before the Memorial Day weekend," said Mike Garcia, director of Voices of Montana Tourism, a nonprofit group that champions the broad economic benefits tourism provides to Montana. "We anticipate this early success will lead to 2015 being a very impressive year for tourism."

The National Park Service recently reported the recreational visitor numbers this year through May were up 29 percent from last year in Glacier National Park and 24 percent in Yellowstone National Park, Garcia noted.