Visualizing big numbers can awe the imagination. Take $2.2 billion, unveiled Friday at our Tourism Fall Forum at Stein Eriksen. As the annual local economic impact of tourism, this staggering figure is equivalent to spending a dollar per second, every second of every day, for 70 years. Or, if you were to stack 2.2 billion $1 bills, the pile would reach 149 miles, nearly the distance to the lowest Earth-orbiting satellites.Here are a few more eye-poppers from the updated local Tourism Economic Impact Study, conducted by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company: 14,798 local jobs are tied to tourism, producing $818 million in annual wages, money that circulates through the economy as workers buy groceries, clothing and other necessities.Tourism adds $242 million annually to state and local government coffers, covering the costs of much of our city and county services and amenities. Visitors pump $1.6 billion in direct spending into the economy each year, removing any doubt that tourism underwrites our prosperity, charm, lifestyle and development.In the wake of these numbers, it was fascinating to hear, during their interview with Forum moderator Tom Kelly, leaders from Deer Valley, Park City Mountain, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and Woodward emphasize Park City’s culture as the secret of our success, particularly the cooperation among our ski venues and their commitment to community. Even with the oversized impact of tourism, we’re still a small, tightly knit, mutually supportive mountain town. Park City Mountain Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh pointed out that Woodward General Manager Gary Trayner’s children and hers play soccer together, while Deer Valley Marketing VP Susie English referenced her Park City childhood. Chamber partners talk about regularly rubbing elbows at fundraisers for the local nonprofits Park City so close to our hearts. This togetherness generates the warmth that defines the Mountainkind sense of place, where so many of us are here by choice and recognize our good fortune.As we balance nature’s gifts with our development needs in preparing for the 2034 Olympics, this distinctive unity gets noticed. Forum guest speaker Catherine Raney Norman, chair of the Committee for the 2034 Games and a four-time Olympian, noted that Park City’s record of working together and maintaining the 2002 Olympic infrastructure to benefit the community was instrumental in Utah/Salt Lake City being awarded the 2034 Games.Also at the forum, I reviewed encouraging news about our post-COVID economy as we energize the Mountainkind winter campaign in national markets. For example, visitor volume (3.7 million overnight visitors in 2023) was up four percent vs. 2022, to go with a 7 percent jump in spending, and all tourism-related county tax collections for the last ten months of 2024 are ahead of last year. Looking ahead, despite an early dip in bookings for December and January compared to last year, advance bookings for February and March, the heart of the coming ski season, are up significantly while nationally, the luxury tourism market is predicted to grow at an 8 percent annual rate through 2030. It seems Park City tourism is well positioned to fuel our mission of sensible, sustainable economic development.Parkite Haley Batten’s appearance brought this year’s Fall Forum to a stellar conclusion. Just 26, Haley is a two-time Olympian and 2024 cross-country mountain biking silver medalist who supercharged the room with her grace and good humor. Her love for Park City’s beauty shone like sun on snow. Her commitment to being outside, determination to succeed, and her achievement-oriented lifestyle represent the best of Park City — a glimpse of the character that will drive our sustainable, balanced, high-performance economy toward a bright future.Jennifer Wesselhoff is the president and CEO of the Park City Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.The post Park City Pulse: Character and tourism grow together appeared first on Park Record.