It Knocked my Socks Off

I just read an article in the Times this morning that tourism was up last year in King County and that signs were hopeful for more increases this summer.  This prompted me to start thinking again about getting some of those increased tourists to stop in Enumclaw.

Enumclaw is truly the “gateway” to Mt. Rainier for people approaching this side of the mountain from the west (I suppose they could bypass Enumclaw by taking Mud Mountain Road, but this is highly unlikely).  So I thought it would be fun to see how many visitors actually travel to Mt. Rainier annually.  The number literally knocked my socks off.  In 2010 614,115 cars visited containing 1,731,913 people with money in their pockets eager to spend it somewhere!  One point 7 million and some odd people!!!

If only 10% ( we could do better than this) of those cars stopped in Enumclaw that would be about 173,191 people shopping and if they only spent $2.00 each that would add about $300,000 in somebody’s pocket.  Does anyone think that Enumclaw is somehow missing the boat?  All is not lost however since the boat this year hasn’t really sailed yet and there is plenty of time to get on board.  Anyone for a boat ride?

Mount Rainier Annual Visitor Statistics 2000-2010

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Mount Rainier National Park Web Site

www.nps.gov/mora

Year

Number of Vehicles

Number of Visitors

2000

681,566

1,970,406

2001

671,084

1,940,104

2002

650,842

1,899,512

2003

649,172

1,857,562

2004

600,789

1,812,978

2005

618,864

1,757,910

2006

562,471

1,619,117

2007

550,168

1,567,866

2008

625,631

1,736,037

2009

609,000

1,701,153

2010

614,115

1,731,913