The Utah Office of Tourism will join with more than 30 of its in-state tourism partners to attend the 41^st International Pow Wow, scheduled for May 16-20, 2009.  The delegation will present more than a dozen Utah destinations.  The exciting news is that all of the Utah booths will be together again at the Miami Beach Convention Center, representing both the Mountain and Southwest regions of the country.

UOT was a part of the 26-member Utah delegation at the Go West Summit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Utah delegates were optimistic about booking new business, despite the economy.  Here are some highlights from a Utah Caucus meeting held during Go West:

• The Cooperative Marketing program has allowed San Juan County to expand its underwriting on NPR in Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada.  Utah’s Canyon Country is participating in more consumer shows and continues to focus on regional “tank away” traffic.  Charlie DeLorme attended ITB Asia and a sales mission to Korea last year, and he’s looking for partnerships this year.
• Park City is promoting its summer products.
• Davi Marie Gadd is new to the Holiday Inn in St. George.
• International visitation is up by 25% in Wayne County for the French, German, and UK markets. 
• Davis County has printed international brochures for Antelope Island as a result of the state’s co-op program.  The brochures are available in Japanese, Chinese, French, and German.
• Moab is getting a new hospital, aquatics center, and Hampton Inn.  The Archway Inn reports strong bookings and it’s receiving more direct calls.
• The Outlets at Zion in St. George experienced a 30% increase in bus traffic last year, with an influx notes in Japanese, European, and Canadian visitors.
• Sun Parks group is providing international marketing of Utah’s five national parks.
• An art exhibit celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Zion National Park has been extended to May 30 at the St. George Art Museum.  New lodging will open this year in Springdale, including the 35-room Cable Mountain Lodge.  Tuachan’s summer season will feature Aida, Footloose, and Annie.  The LDS Church’s St. George Visitors Center reports guests from 181 countries.  Bus parking has been established at the visitors center due to the French market.  The Sand Hollow Golf Course, sister course to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, is doing well.
• The 164-room Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel will open this spring.  A new Western-themed restaurant will open on Memorial Day.  Ruby’s Inn reported that business is up 5-6%, including a boost in the French market.  However, there has been a drop in UK visitors.
• Business has increased at the restaurants and catering on Temple Square last year.  Temple Square also experienced 63% jump in Chinese visitation in 2008.  The number of visitors from China went from 18,000 in 2007 to 29,000 last year.  The City Creek project is a little ahead of schedule and will be completed in 2012.  A new food court will open in mid-summer.
• Osamu Hoshino highlighted the upcoming Delta non-stop service to Tokyo that will offer five flights a week.  He’s getting ready to print the West publication for the Japanese market that focuses on petit fly-drive programs to seven cities.  He reported that 6.1 million people played the recent Internet game that featured Salt Lake City and Utah.  Sales missions will be conducted to Las Vegas on April 18 and to Los Angeles in August.
• Albert Jennings provided the group with an update on the German market.  He said that published German ski product is up 23%.  Some positive developments were reported at a recent industry meeting in Munich.  He related that leisure travel to the U.S. is not decreasing, although business travel is down.  No airlines will be changing their flights.  Group tours should be a bargain this year since pricing was set when the dollar was weaker.

The Utah Office of Tourism is charged with providing general information when requested via telephone or the Web. Generally, it's fourth and fifth-graders who request this information as they are engaged in learning about all 50 states. In fulfilling these requests, UOT mails out approximately 1,800 infocard packets and highway maps/travel guides annually to schoolchildren across the country.

For information and kids informational cutout postcard projects, go to:

http://travel.utah.gov/kids.