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Contact: Greg Cunningham, 803-647-3983
Hopkins, SC – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 159,445 visitors to Congaree National Park in 2019 spent $8,173,000 in communities near the park. That spending supported 102 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $9,643,000.
“We have been safely increasing access to Congaree National Park, one park in the national system of parks that support individual and collective physical and mental wellness,” said Superintendent K. Lynn Berry. “We welcome people back to the park and are excited to share the story of this place and the experiences it provides. We also feature the park as a way to introduce our visitors to all that the Lower Richland Community and the Midlands offer.”
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 South Carolina and how the National Park Service works with Midlands communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/SC.
www.nps.gov
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 419 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, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Last updated: June 18, 2020