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| Above, West Yellowstone, Montana. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Spending in communities near the national parks reached an all-time high last year.
Wyoming Public Media reported:
A new report shows visitors to national parks spent a record amount in surrounding communities last year, providing a major economic boost to those areas.
According to the Interior Department report, visitors spent nearly $24 billion last year on expenses like hotels, restaurants and gas around the parks – a 16% increase from 2021. Lodging drew the largest share of spending – $9 billion nationally. Restaurants were next in line, with $4.6 billion.
“Visitation to national parks would be really challenging without the folks in local communities who are there to support that tourism industry,” said Naaman Horn, who works in the Intermountain regional office for the National Park Service. “They're providing essential services to visitors who are coming to national parks.”
Visitors to parks in the Mountain West proved to be particularly spendy. Utah was third in the nation for visitor spending, while Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming were all in the top 15, according to the report.
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