Pearl Harbor Historic Sites Boost Local Economy

Date: March 1, 2012
Contact: Eileen Martinez (National Park Service), [phone]
Contact: Jerry Hofwolt (USS Bowfin Submarine Park & Museum), [phone]

Honolulu, Hawaii- A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 1,372,724 Pearl Harbor visitors in 2010 spent $53,619,000 on Oahu. That spending supported 805 jobs in the local area. In 2011, the number of visitors to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center jumped significantly to 1,698,896, likely due to opening of the new facility.

"The people and the business owners on Oahu have always been aware of the positive economic value of Pearl Harbor Historic Sites," National Park Service superintendent Paul DePrey said. "These historic sites are clean, green fuel for the engine that is integrated into our local economy."

The Pearl Harbor Historic Sites is a partnership that includes the NPS's WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, as well as the USS Bowfin Submarine Park and Museum, the Pacific Aviation Museum, Pearl Harbor and the Battleship Missouri Memorial.Data for the NPS report was drawn solely from the national monument part of the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites.

Most of the spending/jobs are related to lodging, food, and beverage service (52 percent) followed by other retail (29 percent), entertainment/amusements (10 percent), gas and local transportation (7 percent) and groceries (2 percent).

The figures are based on $12 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in 394 national parks and nearby communities and are included in an annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service.

Across the U.S, local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009.

To download the report visit https://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/products.cfm#MGM and click on Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010.

The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.

For more information on how the NPS is working in Hawaii, go to https://www.nps.gov/hawaii.