A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 28,599,634 visitors to national parks in the District of Columbia spent $600,600,000 in 2021. That spending resulted in 5,293 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the District’s economy of $679,400,000.
“Millions of visitors travel to Washington, D.C., each year to see its monuments and memorials, historic landmarks and natural beauty,” NPS National Capital Regional Director Kym Hall, said. “Whether they visit to have fun, learn, reflect or simply relax, the money that visitors spend supports the District’s economy.”
The national parks in the District of Columbia include Anacostia Park; Capitol Hill Parks; Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens; National Mall and Memorial Parks; Rock Creek Park; White House and President’s Park; historic homes such as Carter G. Woodson Home, Frederick Douglass, and Mary McLeod Bethune Council House national historic sites; and parts of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, and George Washington Memorial Parkway.
Economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis. The report shows that nationwide, $20.5 billion of direct spending by more than 297 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 322,600 jobs nationally; 269,900 of those jobs are in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $42.5 billion.
As for the economics of visitor spending, the lodging sector had the highest direct effects, with $7 billion in economic output nationally. The restaurants sector was had the second greatest effects, with $4.2 billion in economic output nationally.
Report authors also produced an interactive tool to explore visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value added and output effects by sector for national, state and local economies. Users can also view year-by-year trend data. The interactive tool and report are available at the NPS Social Science Program webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm
To learn more about national parks in Washington, D.C. and how the National Park Service works with local communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/districtofcolumbia.
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