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Contact: John Dell'Osso, 415-464-5135
Report shows visitor spending supports 1,200 jobs in local economy. POINT REYES STATION, CALIFORNIA - A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that the more than 2.6 million visitors in 2013 spent nearly $110 million in communities near the park. That spending supported more than 1,200 jobs in the local area. When looking at the sum of the National Parks in the San Francisco Bay Area (from the south) Pinnacles National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (NHP), Fort Point National Historic Site (NHS), Eugene O'Neill NHS, Muir Woods National Monument, Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front NHP, John Muir NHS, Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, and Point Reyes National Seashore, over $700 million was generated and nearly 8,000 jobs were created. "National parks like Point Reyes are not only good for body and spirit, they are good for the economy," park superintendent Cicely Muldoon said. The amounts based on 2013 visitation are approximately $12 million more than 2012. The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz for the National Park Service. The report shows $14.6 billion of direct spending by 273.6 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported more than 237,000 jobs nationally, with more than 197,000 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $26.5 billion. According to the 2013 economic analysis, most visitor spending was for lodging (30.3 percent) followed by food and beverages (27.3 percent), gas and oil (12.1 percent), admissions and fees (10.3 percent) and souvenirs and other expenses (10 percent). The largest jobs categories supported by visitor spending were restaurants and bars (50,000 jobs) and lodging (38,000 jobs). To download the report, visit https://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/economics.cfm. -NPS- |
Last updated: February 28, 2015