Tourism to the Blue Ridge Parkway creates $1.three billion in financial advantages | Information

NC / VA – A new report from the National Park Service shows that 14.1 million visitors to the Blue Ridge Parkway spent $ 1.1 billion in communities near the park in 2020. This spending supported 15.5 thousand jobs in the area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $ 1.3 billion.

“The Blue Ridge Parkway was built in part to support the economic vitality of the region it traverses in North Carolina and Virginia. The Annual Visitor Spend Report reminds us all of the vital partnership the park has with local communities along the route to deliver high quality visitor experiences both on and off the parkway, ”said Tracy Swartout, Superintendent of Blue Ridge Parkway. “After we have just started the 2021 visitor season, we are expecting another year with a high number of visitors. We encourage visitors to plan ahead for all that the Parkway and its neighboring communities have to offer. ”

The peer-reviewed analysis of visitor spending was conducted by economists from the NPS 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 highest direct impact, with an economic output of $ 5 billion. The hospitality industry had the second largest impact, with $ 3 billion in economic output. 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 on the NPS Social Science Program page. available NPS.gov.

To learn more about national parks in North Carolina and Virginia, and how the National Park Service works with communities to preserve local history, protect the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/nc or www.nps.gov/va.