King Salmon, Alaska - A new National Park Service report shows that 37,818 visitors to Katmai National Park and Preserve in 2015 spent $58,343,144 in communities near the park. That spending supported 765 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $83,062,677.
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service. The report shows $16.9 billion of direct spending by 307.2 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 295,000 jobs nationally; 252,000 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $32 billion.
According to the 2015 report on spending across the U.S., most park visitor spending was for lodging (31.1 percent) followed by food and beverages (20.2 percent), gas and oil (11.8 percent), admissions and fees (10.2 percent) and souvenirs and other expenses (9.8 percent).
To download the report visit go.nps.gov/vse.
The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
To learn more about Katmai National Park and Preserve, go to www.nps.gov/katm or call (907) 246-3305.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
