Study: Hundreds of thousands of tourists influenced by TV or movies to visit Montana

There are tourists visiting Montana from out of state who specifically include a trip to see the Missoula County courthouse building downtown.

It's a pretty impressive building, designed by famous Missoula architect A.J. Gibson and built starting in 1908, then listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

But you wouldn't really put it on even a top-500 list of must-see things if you were telling an out-of-stater what they should do on a trip to Montana. Even Ruby's Cafe in Missoula, which is a fantastic diner with great food and even better service, probably wouldn't be high up on that list, considering all the wonderful natural beauty in Montana.

But in the last few years, tourists pop in to Ruby's almost every week, sometimes just to see the building and take pictures, a waitress recently told this reporter during a busy lunch rush.

The reason these two spots are now tourist destinations? They were both featured heavily in the hit show "Yellowstone."

According to a recent study by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana, 77% of people who reported having gone to the State Capitol in Helena (also featured in "Yellowstone") or to the Missoula County Courthouse also reported having watched the show.

The big skies of Montana have been featured many times on the big screen, from fossil hunting in "Jurassic Park" to fly-fishing in "A River Runs Through It," and those magic moments have certainly drawn people here to see Montana in real life.

So, the Institute worked with the Montana Film Office to ask people about that relationship, and the researchers recently published a report called "Montana on Screen: Exploring Film Tourism in Montana."

Authors Kika Bradford, Elena Bigart and director Melissa Weddell got responses from 311 tourists who had visited the Treasure State in 2024 and met the film-tourism criteria for the report.

"Based on this sample, we estimate that roughly 98% of Montana’s nonresident travelers, about 13.5 million people in 2024, had seen a film or television show set or filmed in the state," wrote report contributor Kara Grau, who works at the Institute. "Of those, approximately 420,000 travelers (about 3%) reported being influenced by films or TV series to visit Montana “somewhat” or “a lot,” while about 41,000 travelers (0.3%) came primarily to visit a film location."

Using extrapolation, they estimated that 2.6 million visitors may have visited at least one film location within the state.

"About 18% of film-location visitors spent a full day or more at the site, suggesting that for a notable subset, these places became meaningful parts of their travel experience," the report states. "Roughly 2% (about 285,000 travelers) extended their trip to include a film site as they were already coming to Montana, and about 1% said they specifically came to Montana to visit these film/TV show locations."

All in all, they believe that film and TV play a big role in tourism in Montana, but it's probably not a significant reason why people come here in the first place.

"Taken together, these figures indicate that film tourism enhances Montana’s appeal as a secondary motivator, one that shapes routes, activities, and trip length rather than serving as the main reason for travel," Grau said.

Another 5.8% of respondents said they extended their trip to see locations featured in film or TV, since they were coming to Montana anyway. Another 44.2% said they randomly stopped by TV or film locations during their trip.

"Around 7% of respondents could be described as a group who extended their trip to Montana because of these locations, highlighting the direct impact of film on tourism," the study's authors wrote. "This suggests a spectrum of engagement, from incidental discovery to purposeful pilgrimage. The data further supports the idea of both spontaneous and planned film tourism."

The report hinted that businesses in Montana could benefit from this behavior.

"A significant portion of visitors discover film locations serendipitously, while a notable number actively plan their visits beforehand," the authors wrote. "This dual nature of planning suggests opportunities for both on-site promotion and pre-trip marketing efforts."

When asked about the film or TV series that had the greatest influence on their decision to visit film locations in Montana, the 1992 hit movie "A River Runs Through It" dominated, with 41% of responses, followed by "Yellowstone" at 32%.

The top three most-watched productions among the respondents were "A River Runs Through It," followed by "Jurassic Park" and then "Yellowstone."

In conclusion, the study notes that most visitors, about 96%, would have come to Montana regardless of its film links. But with 13.7 million visitors, even a small percentage acknowledging film or TV played a role means that the big screen enhances or influences hundreds of thousands of people in the tourism sector.

The study's authors acknowledged that there are limitations to their data.

"These results should not be interpreted to represent all potential travelers to Montana who engage with film tourism," the report says. "First, the sample was obtained through a panel, which does not fully capture the perspectives of all potential travelers. Second, respondents were self-selected, which may bias the sample toward individuals with stronger opinions or interests in Montana or film tourism. Third, the study is limited to U.S. residents, excluding international travelers who may have different perspectives about Film tourism in Montana. Fourth, the survey provides a snapshot in time (August 2025) and cannot establish causal relationships between film exposure and travel behaviors."

To view the full report, visit online at umt.edu/tourism-recreation-research/.