Less spent more. When it comes to tourists visiting the state, there's probably many Montanans who like that formula.

The University of Montana New Service tells us that approximately 12.2 million nonresidents visited Montana in 2018 and spend nearly $3.7 billion during their visits, according to the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at UM.

The number of tourists visiting Montana appears to have decreased by about 2 percent from 2017, but those who did travel to the state spent more, on average, per day. The numbers are showing the net result is a rather eye-catching 10 percent increase in total spending over 2017.

Visitor spending during 2018 supported an estimated 42,700 jobs directly and over 58,000 in total, resulting in approximately $1.1 billion of labor income supported by nonresident spending. The Institute for Tourism and Recreation at the University of Montana plans to update these figures in the spring.

Here's hoping tourists had a great time, didn't feel like they were paying too much and plan to come back and see us again soon.

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