Nearly 14 million people visited Montana last year. Those tourists contributed over $300 million to the state tax base and supported nearly 40,000 jobs.

That data comes from the Institute of Tourism and Recreation Research at UM, which analyzes Montana’s attitudes about tourism each year. Researchers found more than two-thirds of Montanans say the economic benefits of tourism outweigh negative impacts.

Pessimistic attitudes toward tourism spiked dramatically during the pandemic. 2022 was the first time in the study’s 30 year history that a majority of responders said the state was getting overcrowded by tourists.

Statewide, that sentiment has eased off in the last few years. But the opposite is true in the gateway communities around Montana’s national parks. Around 70% of respondents near Glacier and Yellowstone national parks said their communities become overcrowded during summer’s peak tourism season.