Tourism Strong Through Fire

Fire activity and smoke lingering over the valley have not caused a loss of business for Jackson Hole as some have feared.  Chamber Manager Jeff Golightly says tourism interests have been monitoring the statistics, and if anything, have witnessed a slight increase in visitation over last year.  Golightly says the Fall Arts Festival took place with no problems and this Wednesday, the lodging barometer shows that occupancies will be slightly up. Golightly says tourists at the visitor center and area establishments have seemed to take the smoke-filled skies in stride with few complaints.  At the same time, he says many have been fascinated with the firefighting effort around them.  Golightly says organization and efforts of the firefighters, the community support shown for them, and the “air show” of helicopters and slurry bombers have provided an interesting thing for them to see.  Golightly says the Joint Travel and Tourism Board allocated $20,000 to be used to convince tourists that it is still OK to come to Jackson, but that allocation has not been tapped and will be returned to the board.