HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) — Shenandoah National Park is a big player in the local economy. A report from the National Park Service shows more than a million visitors spent nearly $100 million dollars in the communities around the park last year.
The National Park Service also says that the money spent by tourists has supported more than a thousand jobs in the Shenandoah Valley, boosting the local economy by $129 million in 2019.
“They’re coming to the park and they’re stopping and buying groceries,” Shenandoah National Park management specialist Sally Hurlbert said. “They’re buying gas on their way into the park, they’re staying in lodging, they’re doing recreational activities, they’re buying retail in our stores.”
Shenandoah National Park was closed for more than a month because of the coronavirus pandemic, but is now in Phase 2 of their reopening plan. Hurlbert tells WHSV that the park and surrounding areas took a negative hit economically.
“I’m sure the numbers will be down this year,” Hurlbert said. “But we definitely were very important to many people leading up to our closure and now that we’re re-opening, we’re seeing lots of visitors coming.”
Lodging expenses accounted for the largest share of visitor spending around national parks in 2019, about $7.1 billion of the $21 billion on a national level. The next largest sector was restaurants and the motor vehicle fuel came after that.
While the park is re-opened, Hurlbert says masks are mandatory inside park buildings and strongly recommends them if you’re within six feet of people that are not in your personal group.
“We also want them to be careful when they go into our local communities, when they go shopping, buy gas, eat at the restaurants, just be careful and maintain that social distancing so that we don’t spread the virus through our local communities,” Hurlbert said.
Copyright 2020 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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June 24, 2020 at 05:10AM
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Shenandoah National Park boosts local economy - WHSV
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