News Release

tourism to Andersonville national historic site and Jimmy carter national historic site creates $13,594,200 in Economic Benefits

Date: May 1, 2018
Contact: Jody Mays, 229-924-0343 ext. 115
Contact: Beth Wright, 229-824-4104 ext. 200

Tourism to Andersonville National Historic Site and Jimmy Carter National Historic Site creates $13,594,200 in Economic Benefits. Report shows visitor spending supports 180 jobs in local economy.

Americus, GA– A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 132,149 visitors to Andersonville National Historic Site and 60,736 visitors to Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in 2017 spent $7,555,400 and $3,472,500, respectively, in communities near the parks. That spending supported 123 and 57 jobs, respectively, in the local area. Combined spending at the two parks had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $13,594,200.

“Andersonville National Historic Site and Jimmy Carter National Historic Site welcome visitors from all over Georgia, across the country, and around the world,” said Charles Sellars, Superintendent of Andersonville National Historic Site and Acting Superintendent of Jimmy Carter National Historic Site. “We are committed to working with Americus, Sumter County, Macon County, the State of Georgia, and other partners to support local tourism and help bring visitors that benefit area communities.”

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service. The report shows $18.2 billion of direct spending by 330 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 306,000 jobs nationally; 255,900 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $35.8 billion.

The lodging sector received the highest direct contributions with $5.5 billion in economic output to local gateway economies and 49,000 jobs. The restaurants sector received the next greatest direct contributions with $3.7 billion in economic output to local gateway economies and 60,500 jobs.

According to the 2017 report, most park visitor spending was for lodging/camping (32.9 percent) followed by food and beverages (27.5 percent), gas and oil (12.1 percent), souvenirs and other expenses (10.1 percent), admissions and fees (10.0 percent), and local transportation (7.5 percent).

Report authors also produce an interactive tool that enables users to explore visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value added, and output effects by sector for national, state, and local economies. Users can also view year-by-year trend data. The interactive tool and report are available at the NPS Social Science Program webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm

To learn more about national parks in Georgia and how the National Park Service works with Georgia communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/georgia.

www.nps.gov

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 417 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.