A new National Park Service report shows that 834,724 visitors to Big South Fork NRRA in 2021 spent $29.3 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 348 jobs in the local area.
“National parks are a vital part of our nation’s economy, especially for park gateway communities where millions of visitors each year find a place to sleep, eat, and explore," said Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas. “At Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, we welcome visitors from across the country to learn the story of this place and take in the experiences it provides."
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. The report shows $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 found 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 had the second greatest effects, with $4.2 billion in economic output nationally.
Report authors also produce an interactive tool that enables users 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
In 2021, 11 million park visitors spent an estimated $870 million in local communities while visiting National Park Service lands in Tennessee. To learn more about national parks in Tennessee and how the National Park Service works with Tennessee communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to nps.gov/state/tennessee.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
