Utah’s travel and tourism industry generated $13.7 billion in visitor spending in 2025, supporting about one in every ten jobs across the state, according to data from the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.
The tourism sector produced $1.6 billion in direct state and local tax revenue during the year. Visitor spending rose modestly by 0.6% in 2025 despite a slowing of air travel and declines in some visitor counts following the post-pandemic growth period.
More than 167,000 jobs in Utah were directly supported by tourism in 2025, with an additional 59,700 jobs generated through indirect and induced
effects. Combined, these roles accounted for roughly ten percent of employment statewide.
Attendance at Utah’s National Parks decreased 5.8% to 12.2 million visits in 2025, reflecting ongoing trends in the nonprofit sector. In contrast, individual skier spending reached a record $392 per person, even as the total number of skier days declined significantly that year. Overall, visitors contributed $2.7 billion in estimated total tax revenue across the state.
Jennifer Leaver, Senior Tourism Analyst at the Gardner Institute, stated, “Utah’s tourism economy demonstrated considerable resilience in 2025. 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.”
The data illustrates that Utah’s tourism sector remained a key economic driver through 2025. Despite softness in visitor numbers and air travel, financial contributions and job support remained stable, marking a transition toward normalized industry conditions following recent pandemic-related disruptions.
