Visitors to Grand Teton contribute $597M to local economy

MOOSE, Wyo. (KIFI) — A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows 2.8 million visitors to Grand Teton National Park in 2022 spent $597 million in gateway communities on items such as gas, camping, groceries, hotel, recreation, restaurants, retail and transportation.

This spending supported 7,610 jobs, $267 million in labor income, $438 million in value added and $757 million in economic output in local communities.

“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,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said.

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the NPS. The report 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.

Report authors also produce 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. To learn about national parks in Wyoming and how the National Park Service works with Wyoming communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment and provide outdoor recreation, go to nps.gov/wyoming.

This year incorporates newly available survey data for Grand Teton. The new information increases the accuracy of the visitor spending data and brings Grand Teton visitor spending estimates in alignment with current visitor spending behavior.

To better understand and improve issues and opportunities for visitor use, access and experiences, Grand Teton National Park is inviting the public to learn about visitor use experience through a public forum (the same material will be presented at each meeting):

• A second public meeting will be held in-person at the Teton County Library Ordway Auditorium on Sept. 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. (MST). Staff will share information and be available to answer questions.