13.56M visitors spent $1.66B in Utah's parks

It was a banner year in 2022 for Utah’s national parks and the money they generated in the state, according to a new report released by the U.S. National Park Service.

The report released last month shows that 13.557 million visitors to national parks in Utah spent $1.656 billion in the state in 2022. That spending supported 23,312 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the state economy of nearly $2.6 million.

“Every park in the state offers unique experiences, from learning about history up close to diverse outdoor recreational opportunities,” said Kate Hammond, National Park Service regional director, in a news release. “There’s something for everyone to see and{mprestriction ids="1,3"} enjoy.”

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service. The report shows $23.9 billion of direct spending by nearly 312 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park, the news release said. This spending supported 378,400 jobs nationally with 314,600 of those jobs found in the gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $50.3 billion.

“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,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in the news release. “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 parks operated by the National Park Service in Utah are Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Dinosaur National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Golden Spike National Historical Park, Hovenweep National Monument, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, Natural Bridges National Monument, Old Spanish National Historic Trail, Pony Express National Historic Trail, Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Timpanogos Cave National Monument and Zion National Park.

A breakdown of visitor spending revealed the lodging sector had the highest direct effects, with $9 billion in economic output nationally. The restaurant 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 https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm.{/mprestriction}