A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that national park visitors in Hawaii in 2010 spent more than $252 million in communities near national parks and supported 3,420 jobs in the state.
“The people and the business owners in communities near national parks have always known their economic value,” said NPS Pacific West Regional Director Chris Lehnertz. “In Hawaii communities, national parks are clean, green fuel for the engine that drives the economy.”
Most of the spending/jobs are related to lodging, food, and beverage service (52 percent) followed by other retail (29 percent), entertainment/amusements (10 percent), gas and local transportation (7 percent) and groceries (2 percent).
The figures are based on $12 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in 394 national parks and nearby communities and are included in an annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service.
The national parks in Hawaii included in this study are: Haleakala National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Kaloko-Honokohua National Historical Park, Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site, and World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.
Across the U.S., local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009.
To download the report visit http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/products.cfm#MGM and click on Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010.
The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
For more information on how the NPS is working in Hawaii, go to http://www.nps.gov/hawaii
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Filed under: aloha, Announcements, Environment, Hawaii, State Affairs, Tourism Tagged: | Haleakalā National Park, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii, National Park Service, Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site
