Smoky Mountain Visitors Pumped $874 Million into Area Economy

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 10,712,673 visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2015 spent $873,886,500 in communities near the park. That spending supported 13,709 jobs in the local area. National park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy, returning $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service.

“In 2015, over 10.7 million visitors not only came to the park, but they also spent time in our local communities to find lodging, meals, and entertainment creating an incredible economic benefit throughout our region,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “We are pleased to continue working alongside our business community in providing exceptional services to complete a memorable Great Smoky Mountains visitor experience.”

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service. The report shows $16.9 billion of direct spending by 307.2 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 295,000 jobs nationally; 252,000 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $32 billion. According to the 2015 report, most park visitor spending was for lodging (31.1 percent) followed by food and beverages (20.2 percent), gas and oil (11.8 percent), admissions and fees (10.2 percent) and souvenirs and other expenses (9.8 percent).

Report authors this year produced an interactive tool. Users can explore current year 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.

The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state. To learn more about national parks in North Carolina or Tennessee and how the National Park Service works with North Carolina and Tennessee communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/NorthCarolina or www.nps.gov/Tennessee.