Utah Lake is fast-growing Utah County’s epicenter, but the lake’s modern economic impact has long been unknown and the lake itself underutilized and mismanaged.
That’s until now, following the Monday release of a first-of-its-kind tourism study that the Utah Lake Authority commissioned.
The lake’s out-of-county visitors spent an estimated $74.3 million last year on lodging, food, recreation and retail, according to the study.
That money, the study concluded, led to $32.4 million in labor income for workers who provide those services, plus $9.1 million in state and local taxes, adding $56.8 million to the total GDP, the study found.
Local officials are hoping to grow these numbers. But until this study, Utah Lake Authority Director Luke Peterson said, there has never been a “real snapshot of honestly anything about the lake.”
Read the rest of the story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.
