Yellowstone creates $642M in economic benefits, supports 7,000 jobs, study finds

“Town Crier” newsletter – Briefs from the Region (1) – 6/18/20

A new report from the National Park Service reveals that 2019’s 4 million visitors to Yellowstone spent $507 million in communities around the park, supporting 7,000 jobs in the local area and rendering a cumulative $642 million benefit to the local economy. According to the NPS, the economic impacts of our national parks around the nation is nothing to take lightly, totaling billions of dollars: “The report shows $21 billion of direct spending by more than 327 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 340,500 jobs nationally; 278,000 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $41.7 billion.” The NPS has also published 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, with a year-over-year data trend analysis. “The positive economic impacts of Yellowstone are essential to economies of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho,” said Superintendent Cam Sholly. “It is important that we continue working with our state and local partners to balance the many benefits of tourism with our continued efforts to protect the world-class resources within the park.”