Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park are two of the most visited areas of the United States, even though only a few years ago they were both struggling for visitation. There was a point where opponents of the parks system were making a valid argument for cutting federal funding for parks and turning them over to state control due to sagging tourism numbers. It was difficult to make an argument that the federal government should be supplying funding for parks that were not being visited at a high rate, and in response the parks department created an advertising campaign illustrating the features of several southwestern parks for the public. The campaign heavily marketed the parks using television and magazine ads, and created a huge amount of success at raising awareness and boosting tourism numbers. The majority of the parks that benefited the most were in close proximity to a major city like Las Vegas or Salt Lake City due to the fact that they were near areas that had support of airline traffic. With most parks being a minimum of four hours drive from a major hub, people needed to be able to fly into a city as a starting point, and this created a situation where the parks closest to the cities received the lion's share of the tourists. The park that benefited the most from the marketing that was done by the parks department was Zion Canyon, being the closest park to Las Vegas. Because Las Vegas is already such a large tourist draw, millions of visitors decide to take a break form the city lights and visit one of the nearby parks during their trip. This has gone as far as to create a situation where Zion is having traffic issues, and congestion at some
Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park are two of the most visited areas of the United States, even though only a few years