The Moab area was expecting 6% growth in tourism this year. It’s fallen by 4% instead.

The Grand County Commission aimed for a 6% increase this year in tourism, but is instead seeing a 4% decrease based on sales tax and transient room tax revenue.

Amid the 10-point gap, the Moab Office of Tourism will spend nearly $3.6 million on three separate agencies to help advertise and rebrand the Moab area.

With tourism falling in Moab, the commission also approved hiring a search firm, Horizon Hospitality, to search for a new director of tourism. The past director, Ben Fredregill, left his position in early June after negotiating a separation agreement. He received a cash payout and is eligible for rehire.

The contract with the search firm will cost anywhere from $19,000 to $31,000, depending on the annual salary and experience candidates have. The search firm and annual salary will be funded through TRT revenue.

Commissioner Brian Martinez told The Times-Independent that while they want locals to apply for the position, they need to be ready for a “rigorous interview.”

“This isn’t just a job; it’s a critical leadership role that is directly tied to the livelihoods of a lot of our residents,” Martinez wrote. “… With tourism revenue being down, we know many local businesses and families are feeling the impact. That’s why we’re so focused on careful financial stewardship and strengthening our tourism efforts even in a slower market.”

The rebrand of Moab

The commission approved spending $750,000 to hire a new branding agency, Camp4 Collective. Martinez said this agency was the “riskiest” choice.

“They’re a newer agency put together by professionals,” Martinez said. “[The other agencies were] a little bit more corporate. And these guys were a little bit more outside the box.”

Assistant marketing director Michael Soleta said the goal is to create a brand that connects with visitors at every stage of the visitor lifecycle. He also noted that community buy-in is “critical” for this project to succeed.

Martinez said Camp4 plans on reaching out to the community by holding stakeholder meetings, but that’s just “one small part of it.”

Co-assistant marketing director Ali Harford pointed out the agency’s photography and videography skills.

“We need that in a pretty huge way,” Harford said. “… I think both of those two strengths will be unique and important to us.”

Tourism trends in Moab

TRT revenue is down by nearly $142,000 for the county, while the city has a decrease of $26,173. Unlike the county, the city has a resort community tax to fall back on, which is up almost $72,000 this year. The city has generated about $2.8 million in resort tax revenue, with May bringing in the most at nearly $765,500.

The resort tax mostly targets purchases tourists make, and City Manager Michael Black suspects this tax is up because of visitors stopping by Arches National Park, leading them to drive through Moab for food and gas.

“We have a lot of people who just come through town, and they might be traveling,” Black said.

Despite tax revenue being down 4%, Martinez did not want to speculate why tourism is decreasing this year. However, at a past Grand County Commission meeting, Martinez attributed lower visitation numbers to the timed-entry reservation system at Arches National Park.

This led to the commission approving a $60,000 study to be conducted by the Kem C. Gardner Institute to evaluate whether the reservation system is hurting the tourism industry.

According to the National Park Service’s monthly reports, visitation to Arches is up by nearly 13,200 visitors this year.

Several Moab-based businesses, however, attribute tourism being down because of fewer international visitors and tourists being more cognizant of how they spend money. Many other resort cities, especially in the West, such as Las Vegas, are reporting similar downward trends.

Despite multiple local restaurants reporting they’re down in revenue, restaurant tax is up 10% this year, which was reported at the latest Moab Tourism Advisory Board meeting. According to the Utah State Tax Commission, the restaurant tax applies not only to restaurant sales but also to certain prepared grocery store items and alcoholic beverages.

While more international visitors are staying away from the United States in 2025, Cirium Aviation, a leading data provider for global travel, reported that global flight cancellations spiked 5% in July. North America was hit the hardest with a 42% increase in cancellations.

President Donald Trump also signed an executive order on July 3 that will increase entrance fees at national parks for foreign visitors. The administration has not announced the amount of the increased fee or how foreign visitors will be identified at park entrances.

Note to readers • This story was first published by The Times-Independent. Lizzie Ramirez is a Report for America corps member covering local government and tourism in Grand County for The Times-Independent. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.