News Release

Tourism to Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site creates $5.8 million in Economic Benefits

Date: June 16, 2020
Contact: Public Information Officer, 8286934178

Tourism to Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site creates $5.8 million in Economic Benefits
Report shows visitor spending supports 68 jobs in local economy
 
Flat Rock, NC – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 78,000 visitors to Carl Sandburg Home NHS in 2019 spent $4.6 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 68 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $5.8 million.

“In 2019, North Carolina’s 10 national park units generated more than $2 billion in economic benefits. Our state ranks third, nationally, in terms of visitor spending in local communities.  North Carolina ranks second nationally in terms of community jobs supported by this visitor spending,” said Superintendent Polly Angelakis. “Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site is proud to share Sandburg’s legacy and help contribute to our local and state economies.”

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 $21 billion of direct spending by more than 327 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 340,500 jobs nationally; 278,000 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $41.7 billion.

Lodging expenses account for the largest share of visitor spending, about $7.1 billion in 2019. The restaurant sector had the next greatest effects with $4.2 billion in economic output. Motor vehicle fuel expenditures were $2.16 billion with retail spending at $1.93 billion.
 
Visitor spending on lodging supported more than 58,000 jobs and more than 61,000 jobs in restaurants. Visitor spending in the recreation industries supported more than 28,000 jobs and spending in retail supported more than 20,000 jobs.
 
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 North Carolina and how the National Park Service works with North Carolina communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/NorthCarolina.
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