ST. GEORGE — Tourism’s impact on Springdale residents, the gateway to Zion National Park, was explored recently by Utah Tech University students who recently presented their findings to the community.

“We examined the way that tourism impacts the lives of those who choose to call popular tourist destinations home,” Utah Tech University Associate Professor of Communications Erin Ortiz told St. George News.

The high number of tourists visiting the area has led to concerns about the impact on quality of life, Ortiz said. So, the town leadership worked with communication students and Utah Tech’s City Alliance program. The research timeline spanned from fall 2023 to spring 2024. 

City Alliance is a partnership between Utah Tech and one city in Southern Utah, according to information posted on the university’s website. A new partner city is selected each year, which began in 2021 and runs until 2025.

Students work with the City Alliance program each academic year and complete projects that the selected city needs while providing learning opportunities. Ortiz said she and her communication students met with Springdale leaders and Erin O’Brien, Utah Tech’s director of community-engaged learning, to assess areas of interest for residents living at the foothills of Zion National Park.

 “The town residents had filled out lots of surveys in the past that said, ‘We’re really struggling with tourism and the impact of tourism on our quality of life,’” Ortiz said. “There are some things they mentioned in the surveys, like, ‘It’s hard to take a left turn on state Route 9.’”

The main areas the students’ research examined include the following:

• Passing vehicles
• Pedestrian traffic
• Noise levels
• Restaurant wait times

Town officials asked the students to visit Springdale and collect objective, unbiased data.

For instance, the students used Decibel X, a phone app, to measure noise pollution. Tom Dansie, Springdale’s director of community development, provided students with a map of Springdale divided into different zones: the Zion National Park entrance area, commercial and residential. 

Ortiz said the students measured each zone for noise pollution. In order to collect data, they used clicker counters to count the number of cars passing by and the number of people walking by. 

To collect data on restaurant wait times, students called restaurants at various times of day on weekdays and weekends with different numbers of parties.

“So if a resident wanted to go to a restaurant during a busy time of night, how long do they (on) average have to wait?” Ortiz said. 

The data-driven insights emphasized the importance of community input and active learning, as well as the need for more frequent data collection in rural areas, Ortiz said. This data can then potentially be used to implement needed change. 

 “My students also looked at our collected data from gateway and non-gateway towns in the state of Utah in order to see what sorts of resources there are for the community members and for those who have a high tourist contact job and those who don’t,” Ortiz said. 

For example, the study examined the impacts of tourism on towns like Springdale, which has a police department, versus Apple Valley, which does not. Ortiz added they reached out to other towns to talk with them but had not heard back. 

Utah Tech student Rainey Anderson told St. George News she enjoyed learning about Springdale’s close-knit community, artist vibe and small businesses.

“I think the biggest surprise to me was the number of local businesses up at Springdale. I’m not from Southern Utah,” Anderson said. “My experience with other tourist areas is tourism shops are run by bigger corporations. During our research, we found a lot of bed-and-breakfast businesses, as well as other local businesses, such as mom-and-pop shops. So I found that to be really interesting.”

Anderson added that she was surprised to find that many people who work in Springdale don’t live there.

“It’s a pretty big commute for many people that work up there,” Anderson said.

She also found that many older, longtime residents have lived their lives in Springdale and different cultures in town sometimes clashed regarding tourism and residents’ needs. 

“The big thing we wanted to impress on the town leadership was their messaging tactics,” Anderson said. 

She said it’s vital that town leaders remind their residents that they are valued and recognize that they live there full-time. Although tourists are essential, they visit and are not there permanently. Anderson suggested the town look into offering a resident discount card, as well as developing a text messaging system so residents can have more convenient access to decipher restaurant wait times.

Anderson added that despite different viewpoints in the community, most residents gave the students positive feedback and appreciated the objectivity allowed in the research, as students had nothing to gain from their findings.

“We’re just doing it because we want to learn more about the impacts of tourism on a gateway town,” Anderson said.

The City Alliance program will partner with LaVerkin City for their next assessment.

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