Americans love to visit Idaho for outdoorsy activities
[caption id="attachment_276" align="alignright" width="620"]
Playing in the Sawtooth Mountains in Central Idaho (Courtesy Idaho Statesman)[/caption]
By Steve Stuebner
American travel and tourism trends show that Idaho is growing in popularity as a primo destination for outdoorsy visitors, and contrary to national trends, people are staying longer on overnight trips to enjoy quality outdoor-adventure activities.
Visitors are twice as likely to come to Idaho to engage in outdoor activities, compared to national norms, where folks may travel to go shopping or visit friends and relatives.
And when people come to Idaho, they like to go hiking, whitewater rafting, camping, fishing, swimming, hunting, birding, and relax on the beach or in a comfy cabin, according to a recent study by Longwoods International.
[caption id="attachment_278" align="aligncenter" width="584"]
The Lochsa River provides oodles of fun. (Courtesy Bear Paw Outfitters)[/caption]
This makes sense for a state that's known as the "whitewater capital" of the United States with popular kayaking and rafting destinations such as the Salmon River, Hells Canyon, Payette and Lochsa, and nationally known fishing destinations such as Silver Creek, the Henrys Fork and South Fork of the Snake River. Plus, nearly two-thirds of Idaho is comprised of national forest and public lands where people can go skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, hiking, biking, camping, fishing, hunting, mountain climbing, rock climbing and more.
Idaho outfitters provide guided trips to all of these activities for people who don't have the equipment, know-how or experience to do it on their own. See ioga.org and raftidaho.org for a menu of outfitters to contact about outdoorsy trips.
[caption id="attachment_279" align="aligncenter" width="620"]
Hanging out around the campfire is one of the bonuses of going on a multi-day outdoor adventure ...[/caption]
Diane Norton, Manager of the Idaho Tourism Division for the Idaho Department of Commerce, said she's not surprised by the findings of the Longwoods study. "We're above the national norm on all of the outdoor activities," Norton said. "It's what we're known for."
An America Outdoors report on national outfitted travel trends shows that the top activities in outdoor travel in 2013 were lodging and cabin rentals, Standup Paddle (SUP) boarding, and canoe and kayak rentals. Guided trips of shorter duration were more popular on a national basis, than longer trips, said David Brown, executive director of America Outdoors.
[caption id="attachment_280" align="aligncenter" width="750"]
Stand up paddle boarding, SUP for short, is one of the most popular outdoor recreation activities nationwide. In Idaho, you can SUP on lakes and rivers. (Courtesy Gregg Mizuta)[/caption]
"Lower risk trips close to metro areas are growing dramatically," Brown says.
But in Idaho, the length of stay is increasing. "Our trips of 4-7 days are going up, which shows that people are buying a pre-packaged trip," Norton says. "And our day trips are increasing, too."
Plus, Idaho's many river outfitters provide SUP experiences as part of day trips and multi-day trips.
On a national level, approximately 70 percent of outfitters saw their profit margins increase in 2014, a good sign indicating that the grip of the recession is ending when it comes to leisure and adventure travel, officials said.
[caption id="attachment_281" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Elk hunting trips are seeing a resurgence in growth in Idaho.[/caption]
John May, executive director of the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, said he's hearing the same thing from Idaho outfitters. "The general trend is that Idaho is doing better than the national average," May said. "We had a good whitewater season, fishing trips were up, our hunting trips were up with bookings increasing for next year, and our lodging trips were up."
Idaho trips are increasing because the state didn't suffer the effects of the recession as badly as some other states, tourism officials said. People coming to Idaho tend to come from adjoining states like Washington, Utah, California and Oregon. Visitors also came from Texas, Florida, Arizona, New York and Montana, the study showed.
Just from casual conversation with the owners of lodging businesses, people enjoy coming to stay in a lodge or a private cabin while they can go horseback riding, hiking and biking, May said. They like to do a mix of leisure activities and come back to a comfy bed in a heated quarters.
"They want to experience the West, but not necessarily in a hard-core way," he says.
[caption id="attachment_282" align="aligncenter" width="720"]
"Glamping" on the Salmon River. Looks pretty comfy! (Courtesy glampinghub.com)[/caption]
"Glamping" is another activity that outfitted guests enjoy, where the women are pampered with yoga and massage activities, gourmet food is served on fine china with cloth tablecloths and fine wine, and sleeping quarters are very comfortable with nice sheets and blankets on raised beds or cots in Safari-quality wall tents.
"This kind of activity is now on the urban dweller's bucket list," May said. "They now realize that they can go "rough it" outdoors and enjoy a surprising list of amenities."
Another reason people come to Idaho, Norton says, is that "we're a bargain" compared to many other destinations in terms of lodging and trip costs. Plus, many people know that they can enjoy outdoor activities in Idaho without feeling pinched by thousands of other tourists doing the same thing.
We call that the "Private Idaho" experience. Come visit and find out what that's all about!
For more information, go to ioga.org, raftidaho.org or visitidaho.org.
Playing in the Sawtooth Mountains in Central Idaho (Courtesy Idaho Statesman)[/caption]
By Steve Stuebner
American travel and tourism trends show that Idaho is growing in popularity as a primo destination for outdoorsy visitors, and contrary to national trends, people are staying longer on overnight trips to enjoy quality outdoor-adventure activities.
Visitors are twice as likely to come to Idaho to engage in outdoor activities, compared to national norms, where folks may travel to go shopping or visit friends and relatives.
And when people come to Idaho, they like to go hiking, whitewater rafting, camping, fishing, swimming, hunting, birding, and relax on the beach or in a comfy cabin, according to a recent study by Longwoods International.
[caption id="attachment_278" align="aligncenter" width="584"]
The Lochsa River provides oodles of fun. (Courtesy Bear Paw Outfitters)[/caption]
This makes sense for a state that's known as the "whitewater capital" of the United States with popular kayaking and rafting destinations such as the Salmon River, Hells Canyon, Payette and Lochsa, and nationally known fishing destinations such as Silver Creek, the Henrys Fork and South Fork of the Snake River. Plus, nearly two-thirds of Idaho is comprised of national forest and public lands where people can go skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, hiking, biking, camping, fishing, hunting, mountain climbing, rock climbing and more.
Idaho outfitters provide guided trips to all of these activities for people who don't have the equipment, know-how or experience to do it on their own. See ioga.org and raftidaho.org for a menu of outfitters to contact about outdoorsy trips.
[caption id="attachment_279" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Hanging out around the campfire is one of the bonuses of going on a multi-day outdoor adventure ...[/caption]
Diane Norton, Manager of the Idaho Tourism Division for the Idaho Department of Commerce, said she's not surprised by the findings of the Longwoods study. "We're above the national norm on all of the outdoor activities," Norton said. "It's what we're known for."
An America Outdoors report on national outfitted travel trends shows that the top activities in outdoor travel in 2013 were lodging and cabin rentals, Standup Paddle (SUP) boarding, and canoe and kayak rentals. Guided trips of shorter duration were more popular on a national basis, than longer trips, said David Brown, executive director of America Outdoors.
[caption id="attachment_280" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Stand up paddle boarding, SUP for short, is one of the most popular outdoor recreation activities nationwide. In Idaho, you can SUP on lakes and rivers. (Courtesy Gregg Mizuta)[/caption]
"Lower risk trips close to metro areas are growing dramatically," Brown says.
But in Idaho, the length of stay is increasing. "Our trips of 4-7 days are going up, which shows that people are buying a pre-packaged trip," Norton says. "And our day trips are increasing, too."
Plus, Idaho's many river outfitters provide SUP experiences as part of day trips and multi-day trips.
On a national level, approximately 70 percent of outfitters saw their profit margins increase in 2014, a good sign indicating that the grip of the recession is ending when it comes to leisure and adventure travel, officials said.
[caption id="attachment_281" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Elk hunting trips are seeing a resurgence in growth in Idaho.[/caption]
John May, executive director of the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, said he's hearing the same thing from Idaho outfitters. "The general trend is that Idaho is doing better than the national average," May said. "We had a good whitewater season, fishing trips were up, our hunting trips were up with bookings increasing for next year, and our lodging trips were up."
Idaho trips are increasing because the state didn't suffer the effects of the recession as badly as some other states, tourism officials said. People coming to Idaho tend to come from adjoining states like Washington, Utah, California and Oregon. Visitors also came from Texas, Florida, Arizona, New York and Montana, the study showed.
Just from casual conversation with the owners of lodging businesses, people enjoy coming to stay in a lodge or a private cabin while they can go horseback riding, hiking and biking, May said. They like to do a mix of leisure activities and come back to a comfy bed in a heated quarters.
"They want to experience the West, but not necessarily in a hard-core way," he says.
[caption id="attachment_282" align="aligncenter" width="720"] "Glamping" on the Salmon River. Looks pretty comfy! (Courtesy glampinghub.com)[/caption]
"Glamping" is another activity that outfitted guests enjoy, where the women are pampered with yoga and massage activities, gourmet food is served on fine china with cloth tablecloths and fine wine, and sleeping quarters are very comfortable with nice sheets and blankets on raised beds or cots in Safari-quality wall tents.
"This kind of activity is now on the urban dweller's bucket list," May said. "They now realize that they can go "rough it" outdoors and enjoy a surprising list of amenities."
Another reason people come to Idaho, Norton says, is that "we're a bargain" compared to many other destinations in terms of lodging and trip costs. Plus, many people know that they can enjoy outdoor activities in Idaho without feeling pinched by thousands of other tourists doing the same thing.
We call that the "Private Idaho" experience. Come visit and find out what that's all about!
For more information, go to ioga.org, raftidaho.org or visitidaho.org.