Delta Air Lines is about to embark on a new mission -- delivering passengers nonstop from Salt Lake City to Paris starting next summer.

On Thursday, Delta and government officials say this first-ever trans-Atlantic service from Utah could potentially contribute $150 million per year to the state's economy, while positioning Utah to be an international travel destination.

Starting June 2, Atlanta-based Delta will offer Flight 170, a 10-hour nonstop flight from Salt Lake City arriving at Charles de Gaulle International in Paris the next morning. Flight 171 will also run daily from Paris to Salt Lake City. Introductory fares start at $499 for a one-way trip.

Local tourism officials say Salt Lake was chosen for several reasons, in part because it's the fastest growing domestic hub for Delta, which just came out of bankruptcy in April.

"Salt Lake City is collecting demand from cities across the west to Europe. Delta already has highly developed hubs in New York, Atlanta and Cincinnati. Salt Lake City is the next hub that has the opportunity to look to more international destinations to serve," said Kent Landers, a Delta spokesman.

Also helping is $2 million in incentives offered by the state and local government, and aggressive lobbying, for more than a year, by several Utah outdoor recreation companies including Amer Sports that have business ties with France, said Tracie Cayford, deputy director of the state Office of Tourism.

The Salt Lake City Department of Airports provided $1 million in one-time funding for the new route, including $655,000 in cash and $345,000 in waived landing fees.

The Governor's Office of Economic Development provided $250,000 in the form of a one-time grant, while the Tourism office kicked in $650,000 in-kind marketing dollars. The Salt Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau also contributed $138,000 for marketing, Cayford said.

Future marketing efforts include promoting Utah as a place to work, live and visit at a major tourism convention in France in September, she said.

"The French love our national park areas. Odds are every time you visit Zions National Park in summer, the languages you hear, other than English, are mostly French and German," Cayford said.

Several local tourism boards are also partnering with the Tourism office to place ads and editorials on Utah's economy, real estate, commerce and tourism in Portrait Salt Lake, a 28-page insert in the upcoming October issue of Delta Sky, its inflight magazine, Cayford said.

But Utah County's efforts to market the area to European tourists is somewhat hampered by a lack of funding and hotel amenities, said Joel Racker, president of the Utah Valley's Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The bureau wasn't able to come up with $24,000 for an ad in Delta Sky, but Thanksgiving Point and its golf course will get a write-up in the magazine, he said.

"We only have 2,600 hotel rooms. Once the new hotel inventory and regional malls in Pleasant Grove, Lehi and Thanksgiving Point are built and we get better restaurants, more meeting facilities, then we'll have more tourism dollars available to promote Utah County," Racker said.

"We already have a jewel in Sundance," he said. "We made sure our marketing effort is in sync with the Tourism Office to showcase Sundance, BYU and Thanksgiving Point. We're also considering offering foreign language translations including French, Spanish, German and Japanese on our Web site in the next six months."

Some 43,310 visitors from France came to Utah in 2004, according to the Tourism office's latest data.

State officials say they hope the new flight from Paris will attract more European visitors to Utah and other parts of the Rocky Mountain region.

They say travelers throughout the western United States will now be able to fly to Europe by connecting through Salt Lake instead of other West Coast hubs like Las Vegas.

Not only are tourism numbers seen improving, Utah's exports to the European Union is also expected to pick up, said Mike Sullivan, spokesman with the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

In 2006, Utah's exports to Europe were at $3.31 billion, up from $2.15 billion in 2005 and $1.14 billion in 2004. According to Delta, the new flight is expected to offer up to five tons of cargo lift in each direction. From Paris, the top shipments will include cosmetics, fashion apparel and wine, while Salt Lake City's chief exports will be machine parts, computers and IT equipment.

An Associated Press report Thursday cited Delta President and Chief Financial Officer Ed Bastian as saying the airline chose Paris as the European destination from Utah because of Delta's partnership with Air France. Passengers can get from Paris to just about anywhere in the world, and the direct flight from Salt Lake City will eliminate at least one stop, the AP report said.

"In 2005, 20 percent of Delta seats sold were for international flights. Today, it's 35 percent. This first transatlantic flight to Europe reflects Delta's growing globalization efforts and essentially makes U.S. gateways international connecting points," said Delta spokesman Kent Landers.

Grace Leong can be reached at 344-2910 or gleong@heraldextra.com

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.