Thanks in large part to the Yosemite Mariposa Tourism Bureau, bus visits through the Arch Rock entrance of Yosemite National Park have increase by 46 percent this year. Mariposa County Supervisor Kevin Cann made the announcement at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Cann said that visitation at other entrances to the Park is also up, but not as much as through Arch Rock. He said that Highway 140 entrances are up by two to four times more than the other gates.

“This is due to the success of the tourism bureau,” Cann said. “And the service people get here in Mariposa.”

Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is also up significantly, according to Cann. He said the county is experiencing an uptick of some $400,000 in bed tax this year. “We are essentially a one-industry economy,” he said of the boon.

Cann believes that the increase means the county should invest even more in promoting tourism. “Now is the time to redouble those efforts rather than slow down,” he said.

Yosemite was full for the Fourth of July holiday. All campsites within the reservation system were full. As of July 9, the Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite Creek and Tamarack Flat campgrounds are now open for the season. Hotel and motel rooms are hard to come by anywhere in Mariposa County right now. Some lodging establishments have been referring visitors to hotels as far away as Merced.