Visitation at Mesa Verde down by 4.1 percent in June

Visitation at Mesa Verde down by 4.1 percent in June

July 17, 2001

Although better than the May visitation, the number of tourists visiting Mesa Verde National Park is still under the 2000 and 1999 numbers.

Mesa Verde recently announced a dip of 4.1 percent in June visitation compared to last year. A total of 94,178 visitors went through the park’s gates last month, compared to 98,175 visits during June 2000.

Through June of 2001, the park recorded 203,279 visits, compared to 207,487 visits during the same period in 2000 — a 2 percent decrease.

The Morefield Campground is reporting an 8.3 percent decrease from 2000.

Experts are blaming the tourism drop on high gas prices and an economic downturn.

"We’re starting to see the normal summer increase in visitation that starts around the Fourth of July. The next few weeks will be pivotal in determining the visitation pattern for the entire summer. Obviously, we’re hoping for a strong increase in visitor numbers," said Superintendent Larry T. Wiese in a press release.

Based on an average number of visitors to Mesa Verde over the past 10 years, the number of park visitors peaks in July at around 150,000.

Arizona’s national parks have also recorded a drop in visitors. Grand Canyon National Park is the only park in the state where the number of visitors has remained flat between 1993 and 1999, with a slight drop in 2000, according to the Associated Press.

The number of visitors to the park, one of the world’s best-known tourist destinations, doubled to more than 4.9 million per year in the decade before 1993.

While the National Park Service predicted visitors would grow to 6 million yearly by 2000, the number of tourists has remained flat and even decreased by about 100,000 last year.

Other Arizona destinations like the Petrified Forest National Park have seen a drop of as many as a million yearly visitors compared to a decade ago.