National park tourism in North Carolina contributes $3.96 billion to state economy

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 20,084,660 visitors to national parks in North Carolina spent $2.48 billion in the state in 2022. That spending resulted in 37,485 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the state economy of $3.96 billion.

“Since 1916, the National Park Service has been entrusted with the care of our national parks. With the help of volunteers and partners, we safeguard these special places and share their stories with more than 300 million visitors every year. The impact of tourism to national parks is undeniable: bringing jobs and revenue to communities in every state in the country and making national parks an essential driver to the national economy,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams.

“Visitors to national parks in North Carolina spent $2.48 billion and supported nearly 40,000 jobs in local communities last year,” said Mark Foust, regional director, National Park Service. “From sacred spaces to wild adventures, every park in the state and across the Southeast region offers a chance to uniquely experience America’s collective heritage.”

The national parks in North Carolina are: Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, Moores Creek National Battlefield, Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and Wright Brothers National Memorial.

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis — conducted by National Park Service economists — shows $23.9 billion of direct spending by nearly 312 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 378,400 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.

As for the economics of visitor spending, the lodging sector had the highest direct effects, with $9 billion in economic output nationally. The restaurants sector had the second greatest effects, with $4.6 billion in economic output nationally.

Report authors also 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: Visitor Spending Effects – Economic Contributions of National Park Visitor Spending – Social Science (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

To learn more about national parks in North Carolina and how the National Park Service works with North Carolina communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment and provide outdoor recreation, visit North Carolina (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).