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By The Numbers: Economic Impacts of the National Parks

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Published Date

November 2, 2009

Sign for souvenir shop in West Yellowstone's Recreational Business District (RBD). Vendors and other business interests in national park gateway regions benefit greatly from national park visitor spending. NPS photo.

Source: National Park Visitor Spending and Payroll Impacts, 2008, available at this site (choose "NPS System Report for 2008").

$15.563 billion

Combined impact of visitor spending and park payrolls, including secondary effects, in local regions (areas within 50 miles of parks). Excludes park entrance fees.

$10.43 billion

Spending by tourists living outside the gateway regions (includes locals staying overnight inside parks).

$7.962 billion

National park visitor spending by overnight visitors. Day-tripping visitors (no lodging or camping expenses) accounted for the remaining $3.601 billion.

$1.203 billion

Wages and salaries paid to 24,954 people, including NPS employees, who worked in the national parks. (The National Park Service employee component includes both full- and part-time employees, with seasonals converted to annual equivalents.) In addition to salaries and wages, people employed in the national parks received $313 million in payroll benefits.

$1.012 billion

Spending by national park tourists (non-local visitors) in the leading state, California, which gained 18,808 jobs in the bargain. The corresponding figures for second-ranked Washington, DC, were $962,550,000 in tourist spending and 18,179 jobs supported.

$800,292,000

Visitor spending generated by Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most heavily visited of the 58 National Parks (9,044,010 visits in 2008). A total of 15,076 jobs are supported by spending attributable to Great Smoky.

241,442

Number of local jobs (50-mile radius) created by national park visitor spending and park payrolls, including secondary spending. NPS wages and salaries alone created 36,816 local jobs, including NPS jobs.

$340

Total per-party expenditures per night for national park visitors who used park lodging. Per-party expenditures for campers averaged $96 per night at park campgrounds and $64 per night in the backcountry. These amounts include lodging or campsite fees, food, fuel, local transportation, souvenirs, and other expenses.

43

Number of jobs supported by national park spending in American Samoa. This is one job less than Connecticut’s tally and 43 more than Delaware’s.

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