News Release

Tourism to Shenandoah National Park contributes $145 million to local economy

Date: August 31, 2023
Contact: Claire Comer, [phone] x3183

Luray, VA – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 1.4 million visitors to Shenandoah National Park in 2022 spent $104 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 1,240 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $145 million.

“Since 1916, the National Park Service has been entrusted with the care of our national parks. With the help of volunteers and partners, we safeguard these special places and share their stories with more than 300 million visitors every year. The impact of tourism to national parks is undeniable: bringing jobs and revenue to communities in every state in the country and making national parks an essential driver to the national economy,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams.

“Visitors to Shenandoah National Park come seeking opportunities to learn, recreate, relax, and build community,” said Superintendent Pat Kenney. “We recognize that tourism has an effect on the local economy, and we strive to provide an excellent visitor experience to inspire visitors to continue to return to the area for generations to come.”

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service. The report shows $23.9 billion of direct spending by nearly 312 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 378,400 jobs nationally; 314,600 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $50.3 billion.

As for the economics of visitor spending, the lodging sector had the highest direct effects, with $9 billion in economic output nationally. The restaurants sector was had the second greatest effects, with $4.6 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: Visitor Spending Effects - Economic Contributions of National Park Visitor Spending - Social Science (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).

To learn more about national parks in Virginia and how the National Park Service works with Virginia communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to Virginia (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).