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2016 National Park visitor spending effects: Economic contributions to local communities, states, and the Nation

Catherine Cullinane Thomas·Lynne Koontz
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Abstract

The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. This economic effects analysis measures how NPS visitor spending cycles through local economies, generating business sales and supporting jobs and income. In 2016, the National Park System received an estimated 330,971,689 recreation visits. Visitors to National Parks spent an estimated \$18.4 billion in local gateway regions (defined as communities within 60 miles of a park). The contribution of this spending to the national economy was 318 thousand jobs, \$12.0 billion in labor income, \$19.9 billion in value added, and \$34.9 billion in economic output. The lodging sector saw the highest direct contributions with \$5.7 billion in economic output directly contributed to local gateway economies nationally. The sector with the next greatest direct contributions was the restaurants and bars sector, with \$3.7 billion in economic output directly contributed to local gateway economies nationally.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. This interactive tool is available at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm.

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Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Lynne Koontz. 2017. 2016 National Park visitor spending effects: Economic contributions to local communities, states, and the Nation. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70191350

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