• Beach walkway to white sandy beach and bluegreen waters

    Gulf Islands

    National Seashore FL,MS

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Florida District Money and Jobs for Local Economy

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Date: March 2, 2012
Contact: Nina Kelson, 850-934-2604

 

Gulf Islands National Seashore, FL District =Money and

Jobs for Local Economy

Gulf Breeze, FL - A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 3,265,290 visitors in 2010 spent $89,038,500in Gulf Islands National Seashoreand in communities near the park. That spending supported 1290jobs in the local area.

"The people and the business owners in communities near national parks have always known their economic value," Superintendent Dan Brown said. "Gulf Islands National Seashoreis clean, green fuel for the engine that drives our local economy."

Most of the spending/jobs are related to lodging, food, and beverage service (52 percent) followed by other retail (29 percent), entertainment/amusements (10 percent), gas and local transportation (7 percent) and groceries (2 percent).

The figures are based on $12 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in 394 national parks and nearby communities 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.

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 the report visit http://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 includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.

For more information on other programs at Gulf Islands National Seashore go towww.nps.gov/guis.

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 396 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.

Did You Know?

WWII dog trainers at Cat Island, Mississippi located at Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Because of the tropical-like conditions, the U. S. Army established the Cat Island War Dog Training Camp in south Mississippi during World War II. A variety of dog breeds were trained to guard, deliver messages, and attack the enemy. Cat Island is part of Gulf Islands National Seashore.