MOOSE, Wyo (KIFI) – A new report from the National Park Service shows that nearly 3.3 million visitors to Grand Teton National Park spent more than $ 598 million in communities near the park in 2020.

This spending supported nearly 8,200 jobs in the area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $ 754 million.

“Grand Teton National Park has certainly given many visitors a respite in the face of the 2020 pandemic,” said Chip Jenkins, Superintendent of Grand Teton National Park. “The iconic landscape, wildlife and historical structures supported the physical and mental well-being of our community and visitors and continued to be an economic engine for the state and the region.”

The peer-reviewed analysis of visitor spending was conducted by economists from the National Park Service and the US Geological Survey. The report shows $ 14.5 billion in direct spending by more than 237 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. These expenses supported 234,000 jobs nationwide; 194,400 of these jobs can be found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the US economy was $ 28.6 billion.

Looking at the economics of visitor spending at the national level, the lodging sector had the second largest impact with an economic output of $ 5 billion. The hospitality sector had the second largest impact with an economic output of $ 3 billion. Visitor spending on accommodation supported more than 43,100 jobs and more than 45,900 restaurant jobs. Visitor spending in the leisure industry supported more than 18,100 jobs and retail spending supported more than 14,300 jobs.

The report’s authors also create an interactive tool that enables users to examine visitor spending, jobs, income from work, value added and output effects by sector for national, state and local economies. Users can also view trend data for each year. The interactive tool and report are available on the NPS Social Science Program page at NPS.gov.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR