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Contact: Shannan Marcak, 928-638-7958
Grand Canyon, Ariz. - A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that almost 4.4 million visitors spent more than $415 million in Grand Canyon National Park and in gateway regions around the park in 2010. In addition, visitor spending supported 6,167 jobs in the local area. The four economic/job sectors most impacted by this visitor spending were lodging, restaurants, retail trade, and entertainment/amusement. "Grand Canyon National Park is an international icon, attracting visitors from around the world. It's no surprise that it has a substantial impact on the local economy," said Grand Canyon Superintendent Dave Uberuaga. "The opportunity to engage in a wide array of popular recreational activities in one of the world's premier geologic landscapes is a tremendous draw for tourism dollars." These figures are based on $12.1 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in and around 394 national park units around the country and are included in an annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service. According to the analysis, the 22 national park units in Arizona alone attracted more than 10.5 million visitors who spent approximately $671 million and supported 9,661 jobs in the state. Across the U.S., local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009. To download a copy of Dr. Stynes' report, please go to https://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/products.cfm#MGM and click on Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010. The report also includes information for visitor spending at individual national parks and by state. For more on how the NPS is working within Arizona, go to www.nps.gov/arizona. -NPS- |
Last updated: February 24, 2015