This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The last U.S. government shutdown certainly hurt Utah's tourist economy, especially at national park gateway communities such as Springdale, Moab and Torrey.

And national travel leaders are warning Congress that a federal government shutdown over the budget that is looming could cost the travel industry at least $185 million per day in economic output due to lost activity and affect 530,000 travel-related jobs due to temporary layoffs, reduced wages and fewer hours worked.

Those are projections from the U.S. Travel Association's economists.

The projection encompasses the closure of national parks and historic sites such as those in Utah and the cancellation of both government and private business travel related to government projects.

"Political leaders need to understand that there are real-world consequences to these arguments that go on in the halls of power," said US. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow in a release this week. "I realize that each side feels passionatelly about their respective position, but frankly there's just no excuse for letting the fiscal year expire without a budget when we know that people's very livelihood, their ability to feed their families, is at stake."

The group estimates that the shuttering of national parks due to the 16-day budget stalemate of october 2013 directly reduced travel spending by $680 million.

According to a government report, Utah's national park units saw a $3.9 million estimated loss at Arches; a $3.6 million loss at Bryce Canyon, a $3.4 million loss at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and a $3.1 million loss at Zion. They were on a list of 45 parks that lost more than $2 million during the shutdown.

The budget fight this year is over defunding Planned Parenthood.