Italian Tourists Visit Wyoming

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By Penny Preston

Story Published: Aug 18, 2011 at 11:14 PM MDT

Story Updated: Aug 19, 2011 at 12:19 PM MDT

CODY, WYOMING - While the tourist season had a slow start in Northwest Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park says it's on pace for it's third largest season ever.

Cody is in tourism mode. The streets are busy, parking lots full, and the Visitor Center is answering questions about Yellowstone, and other area attractions.

Cody Chamber Executive Director Scott Balyo said, “The business owners are saying that on average most of them had a great July. August has been a good month.” But, the season got off to a rocky start.

Park County Travel Council Marketing Director Claudia Wade said, “We had some closures at the East Gate. When the weather started warming up very quickly and record amounts of snowfall, there was some concern about safety going through the East Entrance of Yellowstone, and that is the Cody entrance, and so that entrance was closed during peak hours of the day.”

Add to that higher gas prices, economic uncertainty, and weather across the nation. Wade recalled, “June was terrible weather wise, not just here, but across the country. People were having to deal with floods.”

But, an unexpected flood of tourists started coming into the area from an unexpected place. You will find them if you stop people on Cody's main street. The tourists said, “We go to the Yellowstone Park.” And when asked where they where from, they responded with, “From Italy.”

That’s right, from Italy. Wade says more and more visitors are coming from Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. She explained, “A vacation in the United States is a good value for them because their dollar is stronger than ours, and so their dollar goes further.”

The Italian couple said, “We have decided to make a tour in the United States, starting in Los Angeles making four thousand fifty miles.”

Wade says the European media has also discovered Cody. She recalled, “We actually had two film crews in town about the same time.”

So, while business in Northwest Wyoming is often dented by uncontrollable forces near and far, the weak dollar seems to have helped.

Wade said Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Idaho are part of a marketing co-op called Rocky Mountain International. She said RMI runs tourism offices in several European countries.

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Customs in billings. Why not. said on Saturday, Aug 20 at 7:07 AM

We need to have customs in billings. Chinese tourist would boost our stores Denver is horrible

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