News Release

Tourism to Blue Ridge Parkway contributes $1,390,803,000 to local economy

Date: August 27, 2024
Contact: BLRI Public Affairs

(NC/VA) – A new National Park Service report shows that 16,757,635 visitors to Blue Ridge Parkway in 2023 spent $1,390,803,000 in communities near the park. That spending supported 19,159 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $1,810,286,000.

“I’m so proud that our parks and the stories we tell make a lasting impact on more than 300 million visitors a year,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said. “And I’m just as proud to see those visitors making positive impacts of their own, by supporting local economies and jobs in every state in the country.”

“The 2023 visitor spending report is a reminder of the important relationship between the historic, 469-mile Parkway, the numerous communities the park passes through, and park visitors,” said Superintendent Tracy Swartout. “The report also reinforces the importance of several generation- defining infrastructure investments at work on the Parkway as a result of the Great American Outdoors Act. Our ability to care for these special places is strongly linked to the vitality of local economies of present and future generations. Simply put, America’s national parks continue to be great investments.”

The National Park Service report, 2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, finds that 325.5 million visitors spent $26.4 billion in communities near national parks. This spending supported 415,400 jobs, provided $19.4 billion in labor income and $55.6 billion in economic output to the U.S. economy. The lodging sector had the highest direct contributions with $9.9 billion in economic output and 89,200 jobs. The restaurants received the next greatest direct contributions with $5.2 billion in economic output and 68,600 jobs.

An interactive tool is available to explore visitor spending, jobs, labor income, and total economic contribution by sector for national, state and local economies. Users can also view year-by-year trend data. The interactive tool and report are available on the NPS website.

To learn more about national parks in North Carolina and Virginia and how the National Park Service works with communities across both states to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to nps.gov/state/nc and nps.gov/state/va.