Weekend crowds likely to bring economic boost to Salt Lake County, officials say

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — While many in Salt Lake County are upset about increased traffic and crowds over the weekend, officials say this weekend’s events will be essential to the county’s economy.

Over this weekend, over 100,000 individuals are expected to flock to Salt Lake City for a variety of events, according to the Utah Department of Transportation.

“Downtown is going to be buzzing, Salt Lake County is going to be buzzing this weekend.” says Ryan Mack, Vice President of Communications of Visit Salt Lake, “We have the University of Utah playing Arizona State, and we know that Arizona State fans are going to show up. We have RedWest Fest out at the state fairgrounds and we have Benson Boone performing at the Delta center, so it’s going to be a vibrant, awesome weekend here.”

Mack says the events in Salt Lake City are going to bring a huge boost to the economy and emphasized the importance of bringing visitors in the area. He said, “Last year alone, it generated over $6 billion in direct visitor spend[ing] and that’s really important. Weekends like this are really important to help support that.”

When thousands of people attend events or visit Salt Lake City, it reportedly helps bring more jobs and businesses to the area as well.

“It supports over 56,000 tourism-related jobs. These people come; they don’t just go to that event,” Mack said, “They stay at our hotels, eat at our restaurants, go to our bars, so it’s really important.”

According to Mack, 46% of the total statewide spending from visitors is spent in Salt Lake County. He added, “That’s getting people jobs, that generates tax revenue. All the things that locals like to enjoy is funded by tourism, so it’s very important.”

While these high traffic events certainly boost the economy, Mack cautioned visitors and locals to be aware of the crowds.

“There’s going to be a lot of cars on the road for sure, so we definitely encourage people to take public transportation and hop on UTA,” He said, “Also, it’s going to be a rainy weekend, based on the forecast, so come prepared.”