Report: National parks boosting Idaho’s economy

The National Park Service said more visitors are greatly contributing to Idaho’s economy.

In 2014, park visitors spent an estimated $26.2 Million in local gateway regions while visiting NPS lands in Idaho. These expenditures supported a total of 453 jobs, $11.2 million in labor income, $17.8 Million in value added, and $33.6 million in economic output in the Idaho economy.

Regional Economist with the Idaho Department of Labor Chris St. Jeor said this trend is expected to continue in this year.

“As the national economy continues to improve, its going to have a really positive impact on Idaho’s tourism,” he said. “What’s going to happen, is those families that are getting those job raises and things like that. They’re going to be able to come here to Idaho.”

Visits to Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton, and Craters of the Moon have the greatest impact on cities within eastern Idaho.

St. Jeor said in 2013, nearly 40 percent of Yellow st one park visitors passed through the We st Gate entrance, meaning in 2014 roughly 1.3 million touri st s passed through ea st ern Idaho on their way to the park. Craters of the Moon brought an additional 215,000 touri st s through ea st ern Idaho. He said most of those visitors often spent money on food, leisure, and or hotel stays.