Business was good at national parks last year.
Park visitors generated $26.72 billion in economic activity nationwide and supported 243,000, including guides like me thank you, according to a federal annual report. Nearly 283 million visited parks, four million more than 2012. The federal government shutdown in October cost 7.88 million visitors spending $400 million, however.
Washington’s national parklands – seemingly half of downtown – saw 34.2 million visitors generating $596.7 million and supporting 5,553 jobs. The visitors could have been locals visiting the sites. Other agencies say about 20 million non-Washingtonians visited last year. The Trust for the National Mall recently stated half of all Americans visit the mall in their lifetimes. No wonder they’re touchy about festivals on the new grass.
Among Washington sites, the Lincoln Memorial drew 5.18 million, Vietnam Memorial 3.68 million, World War II Memorial 3.46 million, Korean Memorial 2.72 million and Thomas Jefferson 2.177 million.
