Yellowstone visitors surpass 3 million

Yellowstone visitors surpass 3 million

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo.

Yellowstone National Park remains on track to have one of its highest number of annual visitor counts on record.

The park has already surpassed the 3 million mark through August, with four months left in the calendar year.

Yellowstone saw more than 854,000 recreational visits in August, an increase of 10 percent over August 2014.

The running total of 3.1 million recreational visits in the first eight months of this year is 15 percent over 2014.

Each of the park’s five entrances saw an increase in vehicles for the month of August compared to 2014 levels.

Delta to open ‘sky spas’ for employees

With record profits to spend, the nation’s airlines may be joining Silicon Valley’s tech giants in pampering their employees with the kind of luxuries reserved for top executives.

Starting next month, Delta Air Lines will open three airport “sky spas” where employees can get discounted massages, manicures, pedicures, hair styling, makeup treatments and uniform alterations.

The airline justifies the new luxury by saying happy employees mean happy customers.

The first employee spa is scheduled to open next month in Salt Lake City, with locations in Atlanta and Detroit opening next year.

Geography quiz

Q. What is the largest city by population in Australia?

A. Sydney. At about 4.8 million residents, it has about 400,000 more people than Melbourne. The two cities enjoy a spirited competition as to which is better.

Virginia tourism

RICHMOND, Va.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe says Virginia’s tourism revenues increased more than 4 percent from 2013 to $22.4 billion last year.

The governor said last week that the tourism industry supported nearly 217,000 jobs and pumped more than $1.5 billion into the state and local economies in 2014. State and local revenues were up 5.6 percent from 2013.

Officials say the travel industry was the fifth largest private employer in the state last year and made up 7 percent of Virginia’s total private employment. Domestic travelers spent $61 million a day in the state.

Tourism data

CHEYENNE, Wyo.

Summer tourism data shows attractions like Cheyenne Frontier Days and Yellowstone National Park are helping to drive an uptick in visitors.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports this year’s rodeo event drew 266,030 people, just missing the attendance record set in 1996 during the frontier days’ centennial.

July’s record-breaking 980,000 recreational visitors at Yellowstone National Park also contributed to summer tourism.

Combined dispatches