National Park Visitation Sets New Record as Economic Engines

Last month the Department of the Interior announced that visitor spending in communities near national parks in 2022 resulted in a record high $50.3 billion benefit to the nation’s economy and supported 378,400 jobs.

The National Park Service report, 2022 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, finds that nearly 312 million visitors spent $23.9 billion in communities within 60 miles of a national park. Of the 378,400 jobs supported by visitor spending, 314,600 jobs were in park gateway communities.

“Since 1916, the National Park Service has been entrusted with the care of our national parks. With the help of volunteers and partners, we safeguard these special places and share their stories with more than 300 million visitors every year. The impact of tourism to national parks is undeniable: bringing jobs and revenue to communities in every state in the country and making national parks an essential driver to the national economy,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams.

Annual appropriations for the NPS totaled $3.3 billion in fiscal year 2022, effectively turning a $1 investment in national parks into a more than $10 boost to the nation’s economy.

The latest report is informed by new socioeconomic monitoring survey data, which greatly increases the accuracy of spending estimates for each park and helps the National Park Service learn more about park visitors. This advanced monitoring also delivers a more accurate estimate of the economic contributions of parks to communities.

Results from the Visitor Spending Effects report series are available online via an interactive tool. Users can view year-by-year trend data and explore current year visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value-added, and economic output effects by sector for national, state and local economies. The interactive tool is available on the Visitor Spending Effects webpage.

Below is data from a few select parks for 2022. You can click here to view all national park units.


Park / Total Recreation Visits / Total Visitor Spending / Jobs / Economic Output

Glacier / 2,908,458 / $367,589,000 / 5,691 / $548,417,000

Grand Teton / 2,806,223 / $597,470,000 / 7,608 / $757,041,000

Rocky Mountain / 4,300,424 / $583,794,000 / 8,082 / $911,894,000



Jeff
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