Jackson is the undisputed king of tourism in Wyoming, with 4.8 million tourists converging to traipse through Yellowstone each year. No other Wyoming community can match the Teton County town’s raw visitor numbers or its revenue.
But for years there’s been a concerted effort to spread the love around. That not only eases the pressure on Jackson, but helps tiny towns across Wyoming whose businesses rely on the summer infusion of cash to help float their business all year long.
To gauge how that effort is going this summer, Cowboy State Daily asked AirDNA to take a look at where early bookings for Airbnb or Vrbo stays in June through September have risen the most year over year.
The answers were surprising, sometimes to the people living in some of those communities.
Torrington’s Surprising Surge
Torrington tops the leaderboard with a jaw-dropping 97% jump in demand year over year, which has boosted revenue for short-term rentals 115%.
Even local leaders were stunned when they heard the numbers.
Torrington Clerk Treasurer Lynette Strecker told Cowboy State Daily she was as surprised as anyone to learn her town had the biggest rise in demand for lodging of any place outside of Jackson, as was Go Goshen Community Development Director Leann Mattis.
Strecker noted that Torrington’s golf course was highlighted as the No. 1 municipal golf course in Wyoming by GolfPass in 2024 and said she has noticed the venue does get lots of visitors.
Mattis, meanwhile, noted that the community is working through a housing crisis, and has a sizable crew of workers coming in for some irrigation repairs.
Archaeology Drives Bookings
While both of those things could help explain some of the increase, a closer look at the day-to-day bookings for Torrington showed that the sharpest rise in demand coincides with the annual open house for Sunrise.
It's an abandoned mining town that has a significant Paleo-Indian site and is drawing researchers from around the world.
The start of Torrington’s summer rise, meanwhile, really begins to take off June 12 — a couple of days before the opening date of Eastern Wyoming College’s new summer archaeology school.
Demand doesn’t cool down again until the end of July, when that school ends.
That makes some sense as an explanation for the spike, both Mattis and Strecker agreed.
“I know that the archaeology symposium brings in a lot of people,” Mattis said. “Maybe those folks are looking for lodging outside of the normal stay.”
AirDNA Director of Economics and Forecasting Bram Gallagher, who conducted the analysis for Cowboy State Daily, said one important thing to note is that Torrington is a relatively small market when it comes to short-term rentals.
That means tiny increases to bookings stand out as big percentage gains.
Still, Gallagher said, it is significant to see a rise from 249 booked nights to 490 year over year, given that the number of listings remained relatively flat.
The 115% increase to revenues caught Mattis’ eye. It’s a trend she thinks the community’s leaders will want to lean into and understand better.
“This is really interesting information,” she said. “And I think we could totally take that … and do something with that.”
Rawlins, Powell Ride Adventure Trend
Tied for second behind Torrington with a 37% increase in demand are Powell and Rawlins. Gallagher said both cities reflect travelers seeking more affordable, less crowded “launch pads” for adventure, from which to explore national parks and iconic landscapes.
Visit Powell did not respond to Cowboy State Daily inquiries about their tourism economy, but Rawlins has talked to Cowboy State Daily before about its efforts to reinvent its tourism, by highlighting the many crossroads that pass through it.
The architect of the campaign is Rawlins Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Pam Thayer, who said Rawlins is the only place in the U.S. where so many crossroads come together in one place.
There’s Union Pacific’s transcontinental railroad, and the Lincoln Highway, which was America’s first coast-to-coast highway, as well as the transcontinental airmail route.
And too, there’s the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail and the Great Divide Mountain Bike and TransAmerica bicycle trails.
“From a history standpoint, when everyone was heading west, it just all converged here,” she said.
The community is marking a big bold “X” on a spot where human ambitions came together time and time again to shape American history.
It’s the sort of quirky factoid she thinks can be used to lure travelers to Rawlins, and then act as a gateway to show them what else the community has to offer.
“I remember as a kid going to the Four Corners [Monument], which was four states at the same time,” she said. “I had one foot on each, and so this is that same kind of feeling.”
Not A Drive-Through Town Any More
While Rawlins has sometimes had a reputation as a drive-through town, the community actually has a lot of tourism opportunities for those who take the time to learn about them. There’s everything from jade hunting to hiking up into the mountains to chase photographs of wildlife and beautiful aspens.
There are also some pretty notorious outlaws who have added to the local color, including Big Nose George Parrott.
Shoes made from his flesh are displayed in the museum in Rawlins, along with anecdotes about Butch Cassidy.
Visit Carbon County’s Leslie Jefferson wasn’t surprised to hear that Rawlins has seen a substantial increase in overnight guests. She knows Rawlins has been working hard on its new campaign.
“In Rawlins, we do have a few newly built short-term vacation rental properties, which has expanded lodging options and helped meet the growing demand,” Jefferson told Cowboy State Daily. “It is wonderful to see our community’s rising profile as a destination, and the positive impact tourism continues to have on our local economy.
"This growth reflects the increasing demand for authentic experiences travelers find here in Carbon County and throughout Wyoming,” she added.
Gains And Losses Across Wyoming
Several other Wyoming towns also posted double-digit gains to their early bookings.
Lander took fourth with a 35% rise in year-over-year bookings, while Pinedale came in fifth with a 31% increase.
Ten Sleep, Casper, and Cheyenne all posted a 29% increase, while Douglas, Wilson, and Sundance all posted 28%.
Following them were Wheatland and Rock Springs with a 24% bump, and Thayne and Laramie with a 21% increase.
Thermopolis and Dubois posted a 16% increase, while Cody had a 15% rise and Sheridan a 12% increase.
Newcastle posted an 8% increase, followed by Saratoga with 3% and Evanston with 2%.
Some communities appeared to lose ground, including Glendo, which experienced a 4% drop. Moorcroft dropped 7%, Buffalo 22%, Gillette 26%, Riverton 38%, and Lusk 66%.
A Broader Tourism Future
Zooming out, Wyoming’s overall short-term rental market is pacing about 19% ahead of last summer, Gallagher said.
The numbers hint at shifting travel patterns, and where future tourism dollars, and perhaps state-level destination funds might be most needed.
The numbers also suggest Wyoming’s future tourism growth is successfully branching out into other parts of the state, with towns leveraging their attractions to draw more overnight stays.
That’s significant because overnight guests spend more money than day-trippers.
While a quirky crossroads campaign and an archaeological field school may not seem like they have much in common at first glance, they’re all examples of how Wyoming travelers are discovering the best stories often begin where the beaten path ends.
Wyoming has plenty of that to go around.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
