Visitors view sunrise at Mather Point (NPS Photo/J. Baird)
GRAND CANYON — A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 4.7 million visitors to Grand Canyon National Park in 2022 spent an estimated $759 million in gateway regions near the park. This spending supported a total of 9,990 jobs, $346 million in labor income, $576 million in value added, and $1.0 billion in economic output in local gateway economies surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.
“Grand Canyon National Park continues to be an economic linchpin for local communities and the region surrounding the park,” said Superintendent Ed Keable. “We continue to heavily rely on the support of our neighbors and are proud to be able to help sustain local communities for many years to come.”
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. The report shows $23.9 billion of direct spending by more than 312 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park nationwide. This spending supported 378,000 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.
The report’s authors have produced 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 Arizona 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/arizona.
— Grand Canyon National Park, in northern Arizona, encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homeland of 11 Associated Tribes, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors on the rim. Grand Canyon National Park is a World Heritage Site. The National Park Service cares for the special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage.