Eastern Idaho has seen an increase in tourism

Since last year eastern Idaho has seen a 10 percent increase in tourism.

Donna Benfield with the Rexburg Chamber of Commerce checks in weekly with properties like motels and bed-and-breakfast. “I have not talked to anybody that has not been excited about the traffic they’ve had,” says Benfield.

She believes this increase in tourism is due to the proximity to national parks like Yellowstone.

Other places, like Yellowstone Bear World have also seen some improvements and Bear World is up 10 percent.

“Based on our online sales, we expect an increase from last year,” says Courtney Ferguson, vice president of Yellowstone Bear World.

Labor Day weekend is approaching and the positive effects have already been seen, with hotels fully booked.

“We believe 177,000 Idahoans will be traveling during the holiday and 147,000 of those will be going by car or motor vehicle,” says Dave Carlson, AAA director of government and public affairs.