SAN FRANCISCO-A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 17.3 million visitors to Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods National Monument and Fort Point National Historic Site in 2022 spent $1.25 billion in communities near the parks. That spending supported 12,014 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $1.75 billion.
“Since 1916, the National Park Service has been entrusted with the care of our national parks. 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," said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams.
Locally, as elsewhere in the National Park System, visitor spending recovered considerably after falling in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. Spending across Golden Gate NRA, Muir Woods NM, and Fort Point NHS was higher in 2022 than in any of the report’s previous years since it was first produced in 2012.
"Having a national park in the center of one of America's greatest cities is a tremendous economic driver for the community. I recognize the important role this park has on the livelihoods of the thousands of people that are connected to both supporting the park and to helping our local tourism industry thrive," said General Superintendent of Golden Gate NRA David Smith. “We work hard to preserve the beauty of places like the Marin Headlands and Muir Woods, Alcatraz Island and Fort Point, while still providing opportunities for area businesses to serve the millions of visitors who enjoy the park each year."
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service. The report shows $23.9 billion of direct spending by nearly 312 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 378,400 jobs nationally; 314,600 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $50.3 billion.
As for the economics of visitor spending, the lodging sector had the highest direct effects, with $9 billion in economic output nationally. The restaurants sector had the second greatest effects, with $4.6 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
To learn more about national parks in California and how the National Park Service works with California communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/california.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service