Report Shows $93 Million Impact From Trace

A new National Park Service (NPS) report for 2011 shows that 5.7 million recreational visitors to the Natchez Trace Parkway spent $93 million in the communities surrounding the Park. This spending supported over 1,200 jobs in the local area.

“The Natchez Trace Parkway extends 444-miles through 41 county and municipal jurisdictions in the states of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi,” said Acting Parkway Superintendent Dale Wilkerson. “We attract visitors from across the U.S. and around the world that come here to experience the Parkway and then spend time and money enjoying the services provided by our neighboring communities. The National Park Service is proud to have been entrusted with the care of America’s most treasured places and delighted that the visitors we welcome generate significant contributions to the local, state, and national economies.”

The statistical information for the Parkway is part of a peer-reviewed spending analysis of national park visitors across the country conducted by Michigan State University for the National Park Service. For 2011, the report shows $13 billion of direct spending by 279 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. That visitor spending had a $30 billion impact on the entire U.S. economy and supported 252,000 jobs nationwide.

 

Most visitor spending supports jobs in lodging, food, and beverage service (63 percent) followed by recreation and entertainment (17 percent), other retail (11 percent), transportation and fuel (7 percent) and wholesale and manufacturing (2 percent.)

To download the report visit www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/products.cfm#MGM and click on Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation, 2011.

The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.

To learn more about the economic impact of all national park units in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, and how the National Park Service works with communities to preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide local recreational opportunities, go to:

· www.nps.gov/Tennessee

· www.nps.gov/Alabama

· www.nps.gov/Mississippi

 

 

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