News Release

Economic Impact of Tourism to Shiloh National Military Park

Shiloh Visitor Center

NPS Photo/Mekow

News Release Date: August 21, 2023

Contact: Chris Mekow, 731-689-5696

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 387,000 visitors to Shiloh National Military Park in 2022 spent $25.6 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 358 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $30.5 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.

“We are pleased that Shiloh National Military Park attracts more than 300,000 visitors to explore the commemorative landscapes of both Shiloh and Corinth. As a gateway, the park offers an opportunity for visitors to also experience the natural beauty, inspiring history, and historic towns that are part of this extraordinary Civil War story, said Shiloh Superintendent Catherine Bragaw.” 

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.

Report authors also produce 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 Tennessee and Mississippi and how the National Park Service works with communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/Tennessee or www.nps.gov/Mississippi.