High Park Fire May Not Impact Tourism

DENVER (CBS4)- Tourism experts believe there won't be fewer people visiting Colorado because of the High Park Fire.

National coverage of Colorado's most destructive wildfire has many worried that it will impact the number of people visiting our state.

"We are reaching a peak for the summer. We project that more than 3 million people will be traveling in the mountain region over the 4th of July. People are still going to come to Colorado. They're still going to enjoy our tourism. Our Rocky Mountain National Park is still going to be a very popular place to be even though it is close to the fires," said Triple A Colorado spokeswoman Wave Dreher.

She believes that people will still want to visit Colorado because the state has so many hundreds of thousands of recreational acreage that remains untouched by wildfires and smoke.

"I think people realize that this happens every summer when it's been as dry as it is, they have to be careful in the mountains. They'll come prepared to have a good time no matter what the weather might bring," said Dreher.

The High Park Fire has burned 68,200 Acres, is 55 percent contained and has cost $19.6 million to fight so far. There are 1,978 fire personnel fighting the fire along with 18 helicopters and 135 engines running with a 24-hour work schedule in place.