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The State Department of Tourism has a program in which you can track the number of people who show up in certain areas. Osage County Tourism Director Kelly Bland began tracking those stats in 2019 and has seen a steady rise in people visiting Osage County. Bland explains how that program works.

Bland added that in order for someone to be counted, they must be traveling from more than 50 miles away and any commuters who make the trip on a daily basis are also weeded out. In 2019, there were just over 300,000 unique visitors in Osage County. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Bland says those numbers have continued to rise.

In talking with many businesses out of Pawhuska, Bland says that has correlated with them having their best year yet.