GR Chamber sees increase in visitors

Visitors are flocking to Green River.

For the third year, visitations to the Green River Chamber of Commerce’s Visitors Center have increased. According to Rebecca Eusek, director of the chamber, the summers are a busy time for her staff.

“About 35 percent of our time is spent answering questions or giving directions,” she said.

Walk-in visitation increased by 4 percent during the last year, while during 2014, walk-in visitation increased another 4 percent from 2013. Eusek said part of the reason is due to the National High School Finals Rodeo, which takes place in July -- a month where more than 4,000 visitors were recorded in 2015. She speculates that rodeo contestants used to the area are venturing farther outside of the Sweetwater County Events Complex.

The other part of the reason she believes involves increased tourism to Yellowstone National Park, which has experienced increased visitation as well.

Eusek said visitors often ask about trona, inquiring about both the mineral and the large mines they see from Interstate 80. She also said a lot of people look at the stuffed wolf on display at the center, as well as the other touchable exhibits on display.

Overall, a large number of visitors come from the surrounding region. Statistics provided by the chamber state it received 128 visitors from Colorado during the summer, as well as 97 from California and 52 from Utah. The chamber also recorded 56 visitors from Texas and 41 from Florida.

Internationally, the chamber has received visitation from people from as far away as Australia and Asia, as well as from many regions throughout Europe.

While visitation has increased during the past few years, two of the major attractions to the visitors center were unavailable last summer. The chamber has worked with the Bureau of Land Management to provide two wild horses in a small corral next to the center. The BLM was unable to provide wild horses to the chamber last year as they didn’t have the man power to send employees to clean and care for the horses. Employees and volunteers with the chamber are unable to do those tasks as they’re not trained in how to handle wild horses.

Destinee Rael, public relations and marketing specialist for the chamber, said it’s uncertain if the horses will be provided next year. She said discussions regarding the horses don’t occur until before the summer tourism season begins.