National Park visitation sets nationwide record as economic engine
Photo: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (pictured with Sleeping Bear Dunes superintendent Scott Tucker) visited our Lakeshore last August while on a northern Michigan tour to meet with survivors of Federal Indian Boarding Schools.
Visitor spending contributed $50.3 billion nationwide—$182 million in Sleeping Bear Dunes
From staff reports
The Department of the Interior announced that visitor spending in communities near national parks in 2022 resulted in a record high $50.3 billion benefit to the nation’s economy and supported 378,400 jobs.
The report showed that the approximately 1.5 million visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore last year spent an estimated $182 million in local gateway communities. These expenditures supported a total of 2,390 jobs, $72.5 million in labor income, $130 million in value added, and $234 million in economic output.
According to national park metrics, visitors in 2021 spent a record $206 million in communities near Sleeping Bear Dunes and $193 million during the pandemic year of 2020.
“At the Interior Department, we understand that nature is essential to the health, well-being and prosperity of every family and every community in America,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who visited Sleeping Bear Dunes last year. “But outdoor recreation is not just good for the soul, it’s a significant driver of our national and local economies and job sustainability. When people visit one of our amazing parks, they are contributing to the community around them.”
The National Park Service report, “2022 National Park Visitor Spending Effects,” finds that nearly 312 million visitors spent $23.9 billion in communities within 60 miles of a national park. Of the 378,400 jobs supported by visitor spending, 314,600 jobs were in park gateway communities.
“Since 1916, the National Park Service has been entrusted with the care of our national parks,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “With the help of volunteers and partners, we safeguard these special places and share their stories with more than 300 million visitors every year. The impact of tourism to national parks is undeniable: bringing jobs and revenue to communities in every state in the country and making national parks an essential driver to the national economy,”
Annual appropriations for the NPS totaled $3.3 billion in fiscal year 2022, effectively turning a $1 investment in national parks into a more than $10 boost to the nation’s economy.
The latest report is informed by new socioeconomic monitoring survey data, which greatly increases the accuracy of spending estimates for each park and helps the National Park Service learn more about park visitors. This advanced monitoring also delivers a more accurate estimate of the economic contributions of parks to communities.
