News Release

Tourism in Maine to Acadia National Park Creates $380 Million in Visitor Spending

News Release Date: June 26, 2020

Contact: Christie Anastasia, 207 288-8806

BAR HARBOR, ME – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 3,437,286 visits to Acadia National Park in Maine generated $380 million in the state in 2019. That spending resulted in 5,474 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the state economy of $511 million.

Acadia National Park and Sant Croix International Historic Site are the only NPS sites in Maine for which figures were available for this report. There are several other National Park System sites in the state including Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.

The 2018 and 2019 Visitor Spending Effects analysis incorporates newly available survey data for Acadia National Park and additional parks in the National Park System. The survey is a part of a pilot project to develop long-term, scientific monitoring and collection of visitor data during a park’s peak season. Previous spending estimates for Acadia were calculated by using generalized visitor spending data from other parks in the National Park System. The new survey data showed us that people spent more time in the park, stayed longer in gateway communities and spent more money during their visit.  

According to the annual National Park Service report released on June 11, 2019 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, more than 327 million visitors spent $21 billion in communities within 60 miles of a park in the National Park System. In addition, visitor spending in communities near national parks supported 340,500 jobs.

An online interactive tool enables users to explore visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value added, and output effects by sector for national, state, and local economies.