As a government shutdown looms over Congress come Oct. 1, the financial consequences could greatly impact Utah’s tourism economy — especially for Moab.
Mayor Joette Langianese has kept a close eye on the potential shutdown since August, providing key updates at Moab City Council meetings from the Bennett Group, the city’s Washington, D.C., lobbying firm.
“We won’t know until it happens, but it’s pretty likely to be shut down October 1,” Langianese said at the council’s Sept. 23 meeting. “We don’t know what that’s going to entail [or] how long that’s going to be. They anticipate if there is a shutdown, it’ll probably be a couple days to two weeks.”
Langianese hopes the state will keep the national parks open as they’ve done in the past.
Peak fall visitation is underway in Moab, and a shutdown could impact key tourism tax revenue that has already been down for both the city and Grand County this year.
The state will work to keep the park’s open, according to the Utah Tourism Industry Association.
The association added if the federal government does not provide an “adequate solution,” Utah stands ready to provide strategic support to keep the parks open.
While state tourism representatives are saying they are committed to keeping the national parks accessible amid a government shutdown, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that from past government shutdowns, Utah’s five national parks will likely be forced to close. This will cost the parks an estimated $500,000 loss each day they are closed, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
Karen Hanker, spokesperson for the Southeast Utah Group of National Parks and Monuments, told The Times-Independent that the parks have yet to receive guidance for the possible shutdown.
Transient room tax revenue has been down for four consecutive months, creating a deficit of nearly $86,600 for the city compared to last year. The city has collected roughly $1,083,900 so far — whereas last year about $1,170,500 in TRT was in the coffers.
Tourism Economics, an economic think tank, estimates the travel economy will lose $1 billion nationally each week the government is shut down — contributing to the already projected loss of $12.5 billion in tourism revenue for the country. Representatives from the Utah Tourism Industry Association said this will impact millions of travelers and businesses.
While the state is working on keeping the parks open, Americans are already opting out of their scheduled travel plans.
According to the U.S. Travel Association, 60% of Americans said they would cancel or avoid trips by air amid a government shutdown. About 81% of Americans agree a shutdown will hurt the economy and 86% say it will inconvenience air travelers.
“​​A shutdown is a wholly preventable blow to America’s travel economy — costing $1 billion every week — and affecting millions of travelers and businesses while placing unnecessary strain on an already overextended federal travel workforce,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
While Congress is at a dead stop with the funding bill, 88% of Americans want both parties to work together to avoid a government shutdown — but it’s not that easy.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with the top four congressional leaders Monday afternoon that could make or break the shutdown.
The Utah Office of Tourism reported that in 2024, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and Zion national parks contributed $3.1 billion to the economy.
According to the Moab Office of Tourism visitation dashboard, the international visitor “spend” is down nearly $680,200 this year, but that only accounts for visitors who use Visa credit cards. Utah is forecasted to lose roughly $46.5 million from the top international spending markets — meaning the loss could be greater than anticipated.
Grand County is down roughly $362,600 in TRT revenue. The county collected nearly $5,151,300 in July of 2024, and this year the number fell to about $4,788,900.
“Godzilla x Kong: Supernova” filmed in Moab in July and brought in an estimated $3.9 million to the local economy. Despite production crews staying at hotels and shopping around town, it wasn’t enough to boost TRT that month. Grand County only collected $604,170 in TRT for July.
The last government shutdown occurred in 2018 going into 2019 when Trump was in his first term.
Tuesday is the last day for negotiations to be reached before the government shuts down.
This story was first published by The Times-Independent.