We are gearing up for the peak season of tourists in Montana. As the snow melts and the grass gets greener, more and more people will flock to Big Sky Country. It is clear that the tourism industry in Montana is one of our most lucrative industries. Our economy depends on tourists to succeed and thrive.

 

Clearly, tourism in 2020 was down, due to the pandemic. But, with vaccinations available to nearly all Americans, 2021's tourist season saw a huge rebound with nearly 5 million visitors. Then 2022 brought a devastating flood to the park but still managed to host 3,290,242 visitors.

One big factor in the amount of tourism we see in Montana is the number of state parks and national parks we have inside our borders. Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park welcome nearly 8 million visitors collectively every year.

Recently I discovered a video taken back in 2008, in Yellowstone National Park. The video was centered around a bored group of locals, that were looking to troll tourists. They did so by dressing one of their teammates in a gorilla suit and setting him loose on a hillside. The man got down on all four legs and attempted to resemble a black bear.

Now, for the interesting part. For anyone familiar with Yellowstone Park, you know how easy it is to draw a crowd. You simply pull your call over to the side of the road and start excitedly pointing at a hillside. Before long, other tourists will follow suit. In the case of the following video, it only took minutes before the pranksters had dozens of cars parked on the shoulder of the road.

See definition of a "touron."

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