Community Connections

Fall 2026 Update

A Summer With Our Visitor Centers

For many travelers, a visitor information center is an early stop for quick access to resources and firsthand suggestions from residents on places to visit and explore. At a time when AI seems to answer most questions, a conversation with someone who knows the place and its people can be refreshing and grounding for a visitor. It's also a chance to make a great first impression and set a welcoming tone for the rest of their trip.

In 2026, Glacier Country's visitor center staffing assistance program supported organizations in Bigfork, Condon, Cut Bank, Eureka, Hamilton, Libby, Missoula, Polson, Ronan and Whitefish. The visitor information center (VIC) program helps visitor centers maintain or increase their peak-season hours so they can better respond to travelers' needs.

This summer, Community Liaison Megan Hill Sundy visited the centers in Ronan, Whitefish and Libby to meet with staff and volunteers. Staff talked about what helps them serve travelers well, such as keeping maps and travel guides on hand and knowing what's happening in neighboring towns and the current conditions for outdoor recreation.

Myranda Cravens, executive director of the Libby Chamber of Commerce, explained, “Even with more information available digitally, we continue to see visitors come into the Visitor Center to meet the people behind that information, ask follow-up questions, get local recommendations, and better understand what is accessible during their stay.

“The VIC often serves as a visitor’s first personal impression of Libby. Having a welcoming, knowledgeable person available to answer questions helps visitors feel connected to the community and gives us an opportunity to direct them to local businesses, restaurants, lodging, events, scenic drives, trails, fishing access, and other recreation opportunities they may not have found on their own.”

Thank you to the staff and volunteers who shared their local knowledge and gave travelers reasons to stay a little longer. Their work helps visitors get to know these communities and supports the local businesses they serve. This year's program wrapped up September 8, and we're reviewing end-of-season reports now. Look for highlights in our next update.

Around the Region

Along the way, Megan also met with the Lakeside Somers Chamber of Commerce, the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce, Explore Whitefish and the Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana History.

A couple of common threads came up in these conversations. Visitor centers and chambers are looking for more ways to work together, from sharing travel guides with neighboring towns to helping travelers find the next community down the road. Many partners are also weighing what growth means for them, with real benefits from a busy season alongside pressures like traffic and keeping up with demand. That leaves a question we want to keep asking: What does a healthy visitor economy look like in your community?

We also attended the 2026 Montana Department of Commerce Governor's Conference on Tourism, September 16–18 in Great Falls. Rural immersive experiences in Choteau and Bynum showed how residents working together on new events and cross-promotion can grow tourism in ways that benefit the people who live there.

Data for Your Community

Glacier Country can help communities better understand their visitors. When a community or organization has a question, like what visitation and spending trends look like within a specific timeframe in their county or community, we'll work with you to pull the available data and put together a summary. These figures are trend data, not exact counts.

Let's Connect

Have a data question about your event or community or want to schedule a visit, presentation or conversation next quarter? Contact Megan at megan@glaciermt.com.

Summer 2026 Update

Where the Past Quarter Took Us

Welcome to Community Connections, a new quarterly feature from Western Montana’s Glacier Country. Community engagement has long been part of our work, and we are bringing new structure and focus to it. Our team travels the region year-round—our Director of Sales and Director of Communications on product verification trips, familiarization tours and media visits, and our President CEO and Community Liaison for chamber presentations, community meetings and one-on-one visits with local leaders. These visits help us better understand our communities and support a visitor economy that works for the people who live here. Here is a look at the past quarter.

Glacier Country awarded $80,000 in staffing assistance to 10 visitor information centers across Western Montana. Visitor centers are often a traveler’s first point of contact in a new town, and strong engagement from visitor center staff can turn a pass-through stop into an overnight stay.

President CEO Racene Friede presented to the Hamilton Downtown Association, Ravalli County Chamber of Commerce, Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce and Eureka Chamber of Commerce, walking through Montana’s lodging tax, visitor spending and county-specific visitation trends. Sharing this information helps communities understand their strengths, challenges and opportunities in the local visitor economy.

Community Liaison Megan Hill Sundy visited Bigfork, Condon, Columbia Falls and Thompson Falls to learn what local leaders are working on and better understand what each community wants from its visitor economy. In Seeley Lake, we wrapped up a two-year community-building project through the Seeley Lake Community Council, taking a close look at what residents want and need for their community.

At our board meeting in Cut Bank, board member Lailani Upham shared an update on the Montana Indigenous Tourism Alliance and its work toward an Indigenous tourism trail. In June, we attended the Tourism Advisory Council meeting in Helena, where Glacier Country’s FY 2027 Destination Plan and Budget was approved. Megan also represented the region at the 2026 Rural Summit in Townsend and continued committee work with Glacier County Economic Development and Mission West Community Development Partners.

Every one of these conversations helps us better understand the communities we serve. If you would like to connect with us next quarter—for a presentation or a conversation about what is happening in your community—please reach out to Megan at Megan@glaciermt.com. We are always happy to connect with our partners and communities.