News Release

National park tourism in Massachusetts creates nearly $1.143 billion in economic benefit

Date: July 18, 2022
Contact: John Harlan Warren

PHILADELPHIA – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 6,694,799 visitors to national parks in Massachusetts spent $721 million in the state in 2021. That spending resulted in 8,897 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the state economy of about $1.143 billion.

The national park sites which are entirely or partially within Massachusetts include: Adams National Historical Park; Appalachian National Scenic Trail; Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park; Boston National Historical Park; Boston African American National Historic Site; Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area; Cape Cod National Seashore; Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site; John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site; Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site; Lowell National Historical Park; Minute Man National Historical Park; New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park; New England National Scenic Trail; Salem Maritime National Historic Site; Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site; Springfield Armory National Historic Site, and; Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail.

Economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis. The report shows that nationwide, $20.5 billion of direct spending by more than 297 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 322,600 jobs nationally; 269,900 of those jobs are in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $42.5 billion.

As for the economics of visitor spending, the lodging sector had the highest direct effects, with $7 billion in economic output nationally. The restaurants sector was had the second greatest effects, with $4.2 billion in economic output nationally.

Report authors also produced an interactive tool 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 Massachusetts and how the National Park Service works with Massachusetts communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/state/ma/index.htm.
 

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