Utah County commits $78M to Provo Airport expansion
PROVO, Utah () — The Provo Airport is getting a significant $78 million investment over the next 15 years, including $19.5 million upfront.
The investment will go toward helping the airport expand and grow to meet the demands of and in anticipation of the 2034 Winter Olympic Games.
The upfront costs will be funded through the Tourism, Recreation Cultural, and Convention (TRCC) and Transient Room Tax (TRT) revenues. The County will then contribute $3.9 million to the airport annually over the next 15 years.
In that time, the Provo Airport will expand terminals and services and complete infrastructure upgrades that will allow it to accommodate more passengers.
New Utah County drug task force seizes 16K fentanyl pills in first day of operation
Utah County Commission Vice Chair Skyler Beltran called the investment a 'win-win.'
'Not only will it boost tourism and visitor-generated revenues that can help benefit our citizens and reduce their tax burden for years to come, but it will also provide increased convenience and travel opportunities for Utah County residents,' said Beltran. 'The investment will be a powerful economic driver for jobs and tax revenue in Utah County for many years. It will enhance everyday life while showcasing our incredible community and all it offers.'
Provo officials said the Provo Airport is the second-busiest airport, behind only the Salt Lake International Airport. Officials have been working on growing the airport over the last several years by and to its list of services.
In 2023, Provo officials recognized a need to expand the airport as research showed it was only serving a fraction of its estimated passengers.
'This investment marks a pivotal moment for the future of air travel in Utah County,' said Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers. 'By expanding Provo Airport, we are not only enhancing accessibility for our residents and visitors but also fostering economic growth that will benefit future generations.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
33 minutes ago
- CBS News
North Carolina village of Chimney Rock still struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene, endangering tourist season
Chimney Rock, North Carolina, was unrecognizable after Hurricane Helene swept through, bringing mudslides and flash flooding that ripped apart homes. At the time, it took hours and an escort for CBS News to reach the village, since the only access road had been washed away. Eight months later, the tourist town still isn't ready to welcome summer visitors, putting residents who rely on the tourism industry in peril. Residents like Theresa and Glenn Cauthren had to move into the Chimney Rock Inn, the hotel they own, after their house filled with mud. They had hoped the hotel would have reopened by now, like hotels in Asheville and other nearby cities, but Chimney Rock is still without running water and sanitation. "I had no idea it was going to take this long," Glenn Cauthren told CBS News. Similar cases can be seen along Main Street. Peter O'Leary owns Bubba O'Leary's General Store, and he also serves as mayor of the town of 125. His store also filled up with mud after the hurricane, he said. Chimney Rock's remote location and the very geography that makes the town so stunning have also made recovery work slower and more expensive. "Even though we're making great progress, there's still so much to do," O'Leary said. "I was in Asheville this morning. I was in Hendersonville this morning. And life is normal. And then you come here and it's just totally upside down," O'Leary said. "And, you know, that's just what we're all trying to come to grips with, is that our neighbors just a few miles away are living their lives and we're still trying to recover." But that's not deterring the community, including the Cauthrens. "We are resilient," Theresa Cauthren said, adding, "We're gonna be back and it's gonna be better than ever."
Skift
5 hours ago
- Skift
Airbnb Accused of Poaching Tour Guides From Rival Platforms to Grow Experiences
Whether the poaching attempts were a rogue or not, it's clear that Airbnb is going all-out to compete in its new experiences business. Airbnb needs to expand its tour supply for its newly relaunched Experiences business, and two rival tour platforms say Airbnb tried to poach their guides. Canada-headquartered ToursByLocals and Netherlands-based Withlocals said separately that people with Airbnb email addresses created accounts on their sites, and then violated their terms and conditions by messaging tour guides to recruit them to Airbnb Experiences. 'There's a better way to grow the travel experiences space and it's not by scraping platforms or poaching hosts," ToursByLocals CEO Lisa Chen said in a statement. "At ToursByLocals, our entire model is built around empowering local business
Travel Weekly
5 hours ago
- Travel Weekly
Jamaica's five-year plan for tourism growth
Meagan Drillinger Jamaica's next chapter in tourism is being written with a long lens, as minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett is focusing on growth, connectivity and investing in the workforce. In a recent conversation I had with him at Caribbean Travel Week in New York, Bartlett outlined a five-year strategy designed to expand Jamaica's tourism sector by 2030. Jamaica ended 2024 with 4 million visitors and $4 billion in tourism revenue, hitting its "4 by 4" goal. Now it's pushing toward "5 by 5": 5 million visitors and $5 billion in revenue for the coming years. To get there, the island will need major infrastructure expansion, high-profile resort and casino developments and robust workforce-training programs. Highways and an information superhighway Jamaica's physical transformation is well underway, beginning with an expanded national road system. The government is currently building a new bypass that will cut the drive time between ports of entry and resort towns. The project is part of a broader plan to ensure every visitor can reach a resort from an airport or seaport in under 90 minutes. It includes a multiphase construction of a nine-mile perimeter road to improve traffic flow in Montego Bay. Separately, the North Coast Highway plan includes an expansion to four lanes with underpasses and side roads to alleviate traffic congestion in resort towns. Soon, visitors flying into Montego Bay will be able to reach Negril in just over 30 minutes; the trip can currently take triple that amount of time. Beyond roads, Jamaica is laying fiber-optic broadband across the country, opening the door to digital nomads and long-stay travelers as well as enabling better connectivity for local residents. Edmund Bartlett Photo Credit: Gay Nagle Myers "We provided facilities to the most rural areas of the country now," said Bartlett. "A broadband network is now available, so digital nomads can have the space now and find accommodation almost anywhere as well as plug us properly into the global communication stream and the ability to access more information and transmit faster stories and messaging to the market." New resorts. And a casino Jamaica's growth also includes high-end development and the country's first-ever casino properties. "We break ground for three mega-ultraluxury resorts in the next three weeks in Jamaica. This reflects some $3.5 billion of foreign direct investments and will create jobs for more than 30,000 people," Bartlett said. In 2024, the Princess Grand Jamaica resort opened with 2,000 rooms, and it will open a casino this year, a first for Jamaica. In December, the Caribbean's first Unico resort will open -- Unico 18N 77W Montego Bay. Montego Bay will also see the opening of a Dreams Resort, Planet Hollywood and Vista Ambassadors as well as the luxury residential Pinnacle resort, expected to open in 2028. Jamaica currently has 35,000 hotel rooms. The country's objective is to have 50,000 rooms by 2030. "We regard 50,000 rooms as being a tipping point beyond which we begin to question carrying capacity and issues of overtourism," he said. Building a tourism workforce Through the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation, more than 30,000 tourism workers have already been certified in collaboration with the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute and the American Culinary Federation. Certification programs are also being offered to high school students to create a pipeline of job-ready young professionals entering the industry. "We're creating a meritocracy," said Bartlett. "Certification leads to classification, which leads to better compensation. It's about building a labor market where excellence is rewarded, and where tourism careers are taken seriously." • Related: Jamaica promotes discount travel packages This year, the ministry is expanding its education programs to include a Gastronomy Academy and a training track specifically for entertainers working in resort and attraction settings. The goal, according to Bartlett, is to align Jamaica's creative culture with international service standards. He pointed out that Jamaica is the only country in the region to offer a comprehensive pension plan for all tourism workers, not just those in hotels. It's a significant step in creating long-term security for the people whose work sustains the industry.
