News Release
Date: July 18, 2022
Contact: John Harlan Warren
PHILADELPHIA – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 6,252,091 visitors to national parks in Pennsylvania spent over $298 million in the state in 2021. That spending resulted in 4,507 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the state economy of $468.7 million.
The national parks which are entirely or partially within the state of Pennsylvania include: Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site; Appalachian National Scenic Trail; Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail; Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area; Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site; Eisenhower National Historic Site; First State National Historical Park; Flight 93 National Memorial; Fort Necessity National Battlefield; Friendship Hill National Historic Site; Gettysburg National Military Park; Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site; Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site; Independence National Historical Park; Johnstown Flood National Memorial; Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail; Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River; Steamtown National Historic Site; Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial; Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River; Valley Forge National Historical Park, 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 Pennsylvania and how the National Park Service works with Pennsylvania communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/state/pa/index.htm.
-NPS-
Last updated: July 18, 2022