A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 281 million visitors to the nation’s 394 national parks had a direct spending impact of $12 billion in 2010.
This and other data are included in an annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service.
Across the U.S, local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009.
To download the report visit http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/products.cfm#MGM and click on Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010 .
The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
