Acadia National Park Tourism Creates $200 Million in Local Economic Benefit

Date: March 3, 2014
Contact: John Kelly, 207-288-8708

Part of $27 billion benefit to U.S. economy that supports 243,000 jobs nationwide.

The latest National Park Service (NPS) report shows that the 2.43 million visits to Acadia National Park in 2012 created over $200 million in economic benefit for communities surrounding the park. This spending supported 3,089 jobs in the local area.

"Acadia attracts visitors from across the U.S. and around the world who come here to experience unparalleled scenery, extraordinary recreational opportunities, and wonderful gateway communities. Acadia is one of America's most treasured places, and visitors that come to enjoy it generate significant contributions to the state and local economy," said Superintendent Sheridan Steele.

The information on Acadia National Park is part of a peer-reviewed spending analysis of national park visitors across the country conducted by the NPS Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office for calendar year 2012. The report shows a total of $14.7 billion in direct spending by 283 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a unit of the national park system. The economic benefit of visitor spending had a $26.75 billion impact on the U.S. economy and supported 243,000 jobs nationwide. In other words, every $1 invested by American taxpayers in the National Park Service returned $10 to the U.S. economy in 2012.

Nationally, the largest distribution of NPS visitor spending occurred in the lodging/camping sector (32 percent) followed by restaurants/bars/groceries (27 percent), local transportation/fuel (19 percent), souvenirs/other retail expenses (10 percent), and amusement/recreation fees (10 percent).

The 2012 analysis marks a major revision to the NPS economic impact analyses with the development of a new visitor spending effects (VSE) model that replaces the former Money Generation Model (MGM2). Many of the hallmarks and processes of the MGM2 model are preserved in the new VSE model, but the new model makes significant strides in improving the accuracy and transparency of the analysis. Because of this change from the MGM2 model to the VSE model, estimates from this year's analysis are not directly comparable to previous analyses. To download the full report, please visit www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/index.cfm.

For nearly 100 years, the National Park Service has been entrusted with the care of America's national parks. Today more than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 401 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. To learn more about national parks in Maine and how the National Park Service works with communities to preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide local recreation opportunities, please visit www.nps.gov/maine.