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Washington,
DC – September 2024 / NewsmakerAlert: The
Department of the Interior’s National
Park Service has released a new report that finds visitor spending
in communities near national parks in 2023 resulted in a record high $55.6
billion benefit to the nation’s economy and supported 415,400 jobs.
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 “The
Biden-Harris administration has made historic bipartisan investments to
restore and enhance national parks across our nation,” said Secretary Deb
Haaland. “This report illustrates the significant economic benefits national
parks provide to nearby communities and the U.S. economy, and the value
of our work to safeguard these public lands in the wake of the climate
crisis, upgrade visitor experiences and invest in park infrastructure and
staff.”
“I’m
so proud that our parks and the stories we tell make a lasting impact on
more than 300 million visitors a year,” said National
Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “And I’m just as proud to see those
visitors making positive impacts of their own, by supporting local economies
and jobs in every state in the country.”
The
National Park Service report, 2023
National Park Visitor Spending Effects (PDF file), finds that 325.5
million visitors spent $26.4 billion in communities near national parks.
This spending supported 415,400 jobs, provided $19.4 billion in labor income,
and $55.6 billion in economic output to the U.S. economy. The lodging sector
had the highest direct contributions with $9.9 billion in economic output
and 89,200 jobs. Restaurants received the next greatest direct contributions
with $5.2 billion in economic output and 68,600 jobs.
The
latest report is informed by improved socioeconomic survey data enhancing
the accuracy of spending estimates and helps the National Park Service
learn more about park visitors.
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
annual peer-reviewed economics report was prepared by economists from the
National Park Service. Learn more about how NPS-managed lands and programs
provide economic benefits at www.NPS.gov.
About
the National Park Service
More
than 20,000 National Park Service
employees care for America’s 430+ national parks and work with communities
across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home
recreational opportunities. Visit us at
www.NPS.gov,
on Facebook Facebook.com/nationalparkservice,
Twitter Twitter.com/natlparkservice,
and YouTube YouTube.com/nationalparkservice.
Find
a Park here.
Media
Contact:
Public
Affairs Officer
newsmedia@nps.gov
National
Park Service |
