Cabela’s Pulls in the Crowds

Almost 5 million people visited the Cabela’s sporting goods store in Lehi during its first year of operation, according to an interesting story in today’s Salt Lake Tribune.

The huge retail outlet apparently ranks second only to Temple Square in number of visitors. Mormon Temple Square is expected to draw 5-7 million visitors this year.

“Cabela's number also approaches the sum total of nearly 5.3 million visitors to southern Utah's five national parks - Zion being the biggest individual attraction at 2.7 million visits last year,” the article states.

“The Travel Industry Association defines a tourist as someone who travels 50 miles or more (one way) to a destination or stays overnight in the vicinity, she noted. And although there is no way of knowing what percentage of Cabela's visitors came from out-of-state, it seems logical to assume most were from the Wasatch Front.”

“Nevertheless, von der Esch said, "they are contributing to the economy.”

Here’s the full article. (Be advised, links to Tribune articles often break after a few weeks).