New report says national park visitors spent $64 million spent last year
Visitors to five area national parks pumped $64 million into local coffers last year and helped support more than 1,000 area jobs, according to a study recently released from the National Park Service.
The report looked at the Friendship Hill National Historic Site in Point Marion and the Fort Necessity National Battlefield in Farmington, as well as the Flight 93 National Memorial, the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, both in Somerset County, and the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site in Blair County.
“The Western Pennsylvania National Park Service sites welcome visitors from across the country and around the world,” Superintendent Stephen Clark said in a statement.
“We appreciate the partnership and support of our neighbors and are glad to be able to give back by helping sustain local communities.”
For every $1 spent at a National Park Service site, the return was tenfold in 2016, the report said. There is also $18.4 billion in direct spending by 331 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park, which supported 318,000 jobs across the country in 2016.
“Tourism is vital to our local economy,” said Anna Weltz, director of public relations for the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau. “Visitors to the Laurel Highlands infuse more than $1.83 billion annually in our local shops, restaurants, attractions, lodging facilities, gas stations and more.”
“Now that many students are on summer vacation, we will see plenty of new faces, as well as our local friends and neighbors, experiencing all of the incredible activities we have to offer like rafting on the Yough, biking on the Great Allegheny Passage, touring historical sites and enjoying a summer festival,” Weltz said.
The National Park Service said in its report — a joint effort by economists from the National Park service and the U.S. Geological Survey — that park visitors spent the most on lodging, followed by food and beverages, gas and oil, admissions and fees, souvenirs and other expenses with local transportation and camping fees rounding out the list.
“People may have been here as a student and now they’re coming back as adults,” said MaryEllen Snyder, management assistant for the National Park Service.