DENVER (AP) _ A record 71.3 million visitors spent $18.6 billion in Colorado in 2014, setting a record for the state’s tourism industry.

The Denver Post reports (http://dpo.st/1K9s4Z8 ) that the Colorado Tourism Office on Tuesday released reports showing the state outpacing national growth rates in every tourism category.

Research firm Dean Runyan & Associates tallied direct spending by visitors at $18.6 billion, with 66 percent of that coming from overnight visitors who paid for lodging. And that the state’s tourism-dependent businesses generating $1.1 billion in local and state taxes in 2014, surpassing the billion-dollar mark for the first time.

Ski resorts saw record-setting attendance in 2014, attributing the high numbers to low snowfall in other western skiing locations.