Why do some areas in the US seem so underdeveloped?

[Anne M.]

Not living in the US, I have the perspective of an overseas tourist so my apologies if this is a stupid question (I'm pretty sure I heard @Brandon Turner say that there's no such thing as a stupid question on the BP forums but I do sometimes wonder if I'm putting this words to the test ;) ).

So, what I'm seeing is some places get overcrowded with tourists in season and there's simply not enough room for everyone to stay at reasonable prices. Specific places which come to mind -

Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park (the Mani Glacier area), Yosemite, Seward, AK, and there are many others. 

Take for comparison Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge in Tennessee, where there is also some seasonality but there are also many more place to stay, so prices are more affordable for us tourists.

So, for example, looking at the town of West Yellowstone, MT or even the hamlet of Babb, MT, there's no shortage of space there. Plenty of empty lots in West Yellowstone and as for the Babb area, you can't actually buy a small lot, just a really huge chunk of land. Why aren't investors getting more motels or vacation rental units up in these areas? 

I realize these two parks are extremely seasonal, but still here's my line of thinking -

Get plot at West Yellowstone for $70K

Build a small motel/resort with 20 rooms for another X amount of dollars.

Rent the rooms at $120 a night and you'll likely be booked solid throughout the season, so that's 4 months a year.

120 * 20 * 160 = 384000 in revenue

Rental vacation management costs are 30-50%, let's say 50%, so you end up with $192K every year.

I have no idea as to what the building costs might be for a 20 room building but with almost 2 million dollars in profit every decade, surely you'll be covering the costs fairly quickly?

So, why isn't this happening? I'd be seriously tempted to do this myself, I just figure it's way above my league as someone with zero experience in real estate and/or the hotel industry.

I am guessing this could be where I'm getting things wrong -

1. High building costs due to the location (with nearest urban centers being at least a couple of hours away).

2. Local regulations preventing this somehow.

Would love to hear input from people invested in vacation rentals, multiplex building or these areas of Montana. Alaska works too - I've been spending this morning making reservations for our Alaska trip of 2017. Some places are already booked solid a year in advance!