Visit Salt Lake flourished in a tough 2010

For a year that started glumly with the layoff of 10 employees, 2010 turned out productive for Visit Salt Lake, the CEO of the convention and visitors bureau said Thursday. The number of hotel rooms booked for conventions last year and in years to come went up 53 percent over 2009’s depressed total. Visitor spending contributed $1.2 billion to Utah’s economy and $116.6 million to state and local tax coffers. Sales of the Ski Salt Lake Super Pass exceeded expectations by 5 percent. And the number of unique visitors to the convention and visitor bureau’s website increased by 40 percent over the previous year’s total. Salt Lake Tribune