Ever since the Sundance Institute announced the film festival would move to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027, Park City Special Event Manager Chris Finney has been bombarded with phone calls from event organizers.

“Everyone’s calling me saying, ‘I’m here to save Park City (with a new January event),’” Finney said during a panel about local arts and culture at the Wasatch Back Economic Summit on Monday. “They’re talking about tens of thousands of people they want to bring in on day one.”

While Finney said the economic boon the festival brought to the Wasatch Back will be missed — particularly by local businesses like Park City Lock & Key, which always raked in cash from festivalgoers locking themselves out of their Airbnbs — it also put a strain on year-round residents and city resources.

“If you think about everything that happens during Sundance, there’s someone standing out in the cold, directing traffic or working a crosswalk or loading people into cars or standing in an intersection,” Finney said.

Jocelyn Scudder, executive director of the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County, said residents of the Wasatch Back should focus on establishing the next Sundance Institute instead of the next Sundance Film Festival. In other words, she sees greater potential in the creation of spaces for artists than events to draw in tourists.

“We are very heavily reliant on these big events: Sundance, Kimball Arts Festival, Savor the Summit,” she said. “If we’re able to have these really amazing spaces for arts and culture and activity and experiences to happen, then we will see 12-month, year-round activity act more as kindling for the local community, rather than these high-impact events that are great for our economy, but they’re hard on our community.”

One of those spaces could be the Heber Valley Arts Center planned for east of the Utah Valley University Wasatch campus, encompassing an outdoor amphitheater, indoor theater and rehearsal, community and gallery spaces. The Wasatch County Arts Council hopes to build the arts center by the 2034 Winter Olympics. 

Phil Jordan, co-chair of the Heber City Arts Advisory Committee and an executive at entertainment company Next Level Ops, said the Wasatch Back’s greatest need is rehearsal space for artists.

“It is, generally, across the United States, the debit that is always identified first and generally supported last because it doesn’t generate a return on investment,” he said. 

He added that the Heber Valley Arts Center will bring a “rising tide” for Wasatch Back residents, who will be able to express themselves authentically in the new space. That, he said, will attract new residents to both counties.

Scudder said Summit County residents are excited about the Heber Valley Arts Center.

“I’ve heard from a lot of artists who’ve caught wind of that and (are) like, ‘Well, maybe I’ll go down there and exhibit,’ or ‘Maybe I’ll go down there and perform,’” she said. 

While the Heber Valley Arts Center is a long way from breaking ground, Heber City’s arts and culture scene is growing rapidly, explained Rachel Kahler, executive director of nonprofit Community Alliance for Main Street.

Kahler has a contract with Heber City to organize at least 50 local events in Main Street Park annually. The city’s goal is to build up to 250 events annually. 

Kahler has taken the advice of Park Silly Sunday Market Executive Director Kate McChesney: “Be mindful of what you’re doing and don’t grow too fast.”

Park City Councilor Tana Toly provided Savor the Summit as an example of an event that has grown into a tourist event rather than one for locals.

“We can’t afford to go do that, and so, we’re looking at other events during the summer,” she said.

Kahler said organizers need to recognize the pressures events can put on local communities. She provided Ice Castles — which she was previously marketing manager of — as an example. 

Ice Castles started in Midway’s town square in 2011. 

“If you remember back then, they basically took over downtown,” she said. “Every neighborhood was angry because, instead of Swiss Days, which takes over for two days, they had seven weeks of lines and people and parking.”

Ice Castles then moved to the Homestead Resort and later Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in response to resident feedback. The attraction became beloved and brought an influx of economic activity for small business owners, like David Medina, owner of Lola’s Street Kitchen.

“David told me those first couple years, he had such a small restaurant. But because of the Ice Castles, it kept him in business to (the point) where he now is a destination restaurant,” Kahler said. “These are factors that you can’t often gauge with data, but you can with relationships.”

Kahler’s example represents how arts and cultural events can provide economic spillover for local businesses. But the benefits of the arts aren’t purely economic, Scudder said. 

“Creating art and experiencing art is what makes us distinctly human, and it allows us to connect,” she said. “It not only supports our community, but it supports our well being as people. I hope that people think of arts as a social investment.”

Ciara Steele from the Utah Arts Collective said the organization’s Nutcracker Tea Party demonstrates that. Every year, the Utah Arts Collective collaborates with local businesses — for example, Midway’s Dandelion Gelato — and donates all proceeds to the Wasatch County Children’s Justice Center, which provides services to children undergoing the child abuse investigative process.

“We’re all working together, and there’s a local benefit,” Steele said. “We educate our dancers about what the (Children’s Justice Center) provides, so they understand what they’re serving with their talent. The parents get behind that, and the community does, (too).”

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Summit County’s tourism economy experienced another snowstorm of success this year, with the region rolling in as the state’s second-largest economic driver behind Salt Lake County.

Tourism in Utah generated an estimated $12.71 billion in direct visitor spending during the fiscal year, supporting almost 160,000 jobs statewide and creating $2.35 billion in state and local tax revenue, according to the Utah Office of Tourism Managing Director Natalie Randall. 

Almost $1.65 billion, or 13%, of that came from visitor spending in Summit County. Salt Lake dominates the list of counties with an annual visitor economy of $4 billion, or 40% of Utah’s total. Still, more than $18 million collected intransient room taxes last year in the greater Park City area made up 17% of the total statewide revenue. 

The figures are still preliminary, but if confirmed, they would make for another record-breaking year for Utah’s economy.

“We’re the only state agency that’s wholly dedicated to marketing the state, but it is important as we take into account the balance and as we see the growth, especially in communities like Park City and a mature visitor economy, the development pieces and the stewardship pieces as well. Economic impact in our state is significant. Tourism provides a significant piece to that,” Randall said. 

Another historic winter in the Park City area, combined with strong retail and lodging numbers as well as the Park City Chamber/Bureau’s rebranding effort, allowed the area to emerge as a significant contributor to the state.

Around 15% of total spending in Summit County comes from visitors, leading to a tax revenue of $291.5 million for the county and support for 15,000 local jobs. 

The metrics were lauded as the Chamber/Bureau’s latest achievements during its annual meeting on Wednesday at Pendry Park City. 

Over the last six months, lodging numbers have started to level out. Occupancy rates are up 3% and rates are up 1%. President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff said Summit County is exactly on pace for this time last year.

“Where the rubber really hits the road though is in our tax collection, and where visitor spending continues to drive and increase in all of the tourism-related categories for Summit County tax collections from January through August, those categories are up … between 3-5%,” Wesselhoff said. “We have a lot of success to build upon in the upcoming year, and we have such an incredibly strong foundation.”

Almost 90% of funding for the Chamber/Bureau came from the transient room tax, which is paid by visitors for short-term lodging in Summit County. Wesselhoff estimated international travelers account for 12% of overnight visitation, a demographic that’s been returning to the community in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 8,500 people visited the Visitor Center help desk in 2023.

Wesselhoff also highlighted how the new tourism brand, legislative efforts focused on housing, transportation, diversity and sustainability as well as the return of the Winter Games in 2034 could impact future visitation.

The Mountainkind ethos was unveiled as a way to present Park City as an “unparalleled mountain community where respect for each other and our natural world defines us.” The Chamber/Bureau hopes the message inspires tourists to support small businesses and take care of the environment while officials plan for the next 10 years. 

Local tourism officials plan to focus on attracting quality visitors to the Park City area while they plan for future developments associated with the future Olympics and prepare to take on the international spotlight. 

“Economic impact numbers are a priority, but we prioritize at the top of our mission, elevating life in Utah and considering quality of life is a key piece to that balance,” Randall said.

About 78% of Utahns say tourism has a positive effect on the state’s reputation, according to a resident sentiment survey. 

That number is higher among Park City residents, 91% of whom said tourism is important to the local economy. However, Randall acknowledged there was still work to be done with only 40% of Parkites saying the positive effects outweigh the negative. 

A large majority of Chamber/Bureau members have said maintaining community character and a sense of place is important to them.

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The uncertainty surrounding the national and global economy after the presidential election is concerning, and roadblocks may lie ahead, but for now Park City is chugging along as smoothly as ever.

That was the crux of the message Park City Chamber/Bureau officials delivered Wednesday at the organization’s annual Economic Forecast Luncheon, held at the Park City Marriott. Chris Eggleton, chairman of the Chamber/Bureau’s board of directors, and president and CEO Bill Malone took to the stage and lauded the business community for helping make it another successful ski season.

In an interview with The Park Record following the luncheon, Malone expounded on that message, saying visitation has been up over last year for much of the ski season so far. And the number of reservations on the books through mid-March — the farthest statistical outlook available to the Chamber/Bureau — indicates things are unlikely to slow down over the next month and a half.

“From our point now through mid-March, we’re golden,” he said. “We’re in great shape.”

The early signs are also pointing to a strong summer, Malone said. The Chamber/Bureau has generated “a ton” of leads for business convention travel — the primary demographic of summer visitors — for this year, as well as the summers of 2018 and 2019.

“Those are trending very positive,” he said. “That gives us a lot of optimism. We can say we’re strong on the leisure (travel) in the short-term, and we’re strong on the corporate and incentive business on the long-term.”

But things are less certain between mid-March and the summer. Malone said businesses can lose a lot of the gains they made in the winter during the early spring, a timeframe in which Park City’s often experiences a significant lull.

This year, the Chamber/Bureau is hoping to reverse the status quo.

For the first time, the organization is deploying a national marketing campaign aimed at luring more visitors during the spring. The television and digital ad effort, dubbed Spring It On, will be featured in several of the largest markets in the country and aims to showcase the unique things Park City offers during the spring.

“We need to focus some energy on that timeframe,” Malone said. “We held back on some of our marketing. We started earlier, took a break in the holiday period, then went for a couple weeks after the holidays and took another break. Now, we’re hitting a new message, and it’s all about sunshine, activities, skiing and concerts in the spring.”

As much effort as the Chamber/Bureau is spending, the business community’s support of the campaign is what could ultimately make the difference, Malone said. Businesses throughout the area are banding together to offer specials during that period in an effort to drum up more interest. It’s a similar strategy to one that has yielded increased visitation during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend in recent years.

“We can go out there and talk about it, but if they can put the muscle behind it that says, ‘Hey, here’s what you get extra, here’s the added value,’ that’s the type of thing that makes people pull out their credit card,” he said. “That’s what we’re seeing on the spring campaign. We’re seeing lodging, restaurants, activities, retail coming together and putting things out there that hopefully are motivating to people.”

Another factor playing in Park City’s favor is this winter’s plentiful snowfall. It’s likely there will be enough snow to keep conditions at Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort good well into the spring, an element Eggleton highlighted as he described the marketing campaign to those attending the luncheon.

“That can be some of the best time to ski Park City,” he.

Amid the optimism, officials also described the challenges the Park City economy faces. Chief among them, Malone said, is that employers are finding it increasingly difficult to hire enough employees, and they often rely on people who commute from the Wasatch County or the Salt Lake Valley.

The Park City and Summit County governments have identified affordable housing and transportation as key issues, and solving them would provide a larger local workforce Malone said he’s confident they can find solutions, but he worries it may take longer than employers would like. And in the meantime, it could put a throttle on the local economy at a time when it’s flourishing.

“Unfortunately, these things don’t happen fast,” he said. “It takes years to build and make the progress. But I think we’re light-years ahead of a lot of places because we’re addressing the issues.”

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