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NPS Photo by Park Guide Jennifer DeMerritt
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Contact: Norma Pineda, 505-847-2585 ext. 221
Mountainair, NM– A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 38.1 thousand visitors to Salinas Pueblo Missions NM in 2021 spent $2.5 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 35 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $3.3 million.
“National parks are a vital part of our nation’s economy, especially for park gateway communities where visitors make use of local services that help drive a vibrant tourism and outdoor recreation industry,” said Superintendent Lisa Baldwin. “At Salinas Pueblo Missions NM, we are excited to share the story of this place and the experiences it provides."
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. The report shows $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 found 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 had the second greatest effects, with $4.2 billion in economic output nationally.
Report authors also produced 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 New Mexico and how the National Park Service works with New Mexico communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/NewMexico.
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About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 423 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.
Last updated: March 26, 2025