Tourism still bringing in big bucks to Utah

Despite the struggling economy, Utah's tourism industry is generating plenty of dollars for the state thanks in part to high interest from foreign travelers.

Last year, the Beehive State took in around $6.9 billion on total travel spending from an estimated 22 million visitors — a 6.1 percent jump in revenue over 2010, according to the Utah Office of Tourism.

Travelers generated $842 million in state and local taxes, the state tourism office said. In 2010, Utah hosted more than 20 million visitors who spent $6.5 billion.

Much of that increased spending came from hundreds of thousands of overseas visitors. Deseret News