Glacier visitor spending tops $344 million

As the summer vacation and travel seasons open, U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that visitor spending in communities near national parks in 2018 resulted in a $40.1 billion benefit to the nation’s economy and supported 329,000 jobs.

The financial contributions of Glacier National Park visitors increased in 2018, with nearly 3 million visitors spending an estimated $344 million in local gateway economies. These expenditures supported 5,230 jobs, $163 million in labor income, $269 million in value-added spending and $484 million in economic output.

In 2017 visitors to Glacier spent $275 million. Figures are available back to 2012, when visitors to Glacier Park added $172 million to the Northwest Montana economy.

The three biggest categories of visitor spending for Glacier Park broke down to 40% in lodging, 16% at restaurants and 10% for transportation.

In Montana overall in 2018, 5.5 million park visitors spent an estimated $633 million in local gateway regions while visiting the eight Montana sites in the National Park Service system. These expenditures supported a total of 9,540 jobs for $303 million in labor income and $881 million in economic output in the state economy.

According to the annual National Park Service report, 2018 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, more than 318 million visitors spent $20.2 billion in communities within 60 miles of a park in the National Park System. Of the 329,000 jobs supported by visitor spending, more than 268,000 jobs exist in the park gateway communities.

“This report emphasizes the tremendous impact the national parks have on our nation’s economy and underscores the need to fulfill President Trump’s plan to rebuild park infrastructure,” Bernhardt said. “With 419 sites, and at least one in every state, our national parks continue to provide visitors, both local and destination, with innumerous recreational, inspirational, and world-class experiences.”

Economic benefits from visitor spending increased by $2 billion and total output increased by $4.3 billion in comparison to 2017.

The National Park System includes attractions ranging from big parks like Blue Ridge Parkway to Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Montana. Blue Ridge attracted 14.6 million people who spent more than $1 billion and supported more than 15,900 jobs. Grant Kohrs Ranch drew more than 26,000 visitors who spent more than $1.5 million in the area and supported 25 local jobs.

Lodging expenses account for the largest share of visitor spending totaling nearly $6.8 billion in 2018. Food expenses are the second largest spending area with visitors spending $4 billion in restaurants and bars and another $1.4 billion at grocery and convenience stores.

The peer-reviewed economics report was prepared by economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Egan Cornachione of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service. It includes information by parks and by states on visitor spending, the number of jobs supported by visitor spending and other statistics.

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 annual trend data.

For more state-by-state information about national parks and how the National Park Service is working in Montana, go to http://www.nps.gov/Montana.