ACADIA NATIONAL PARK — Along with an increase in visits to the park in 2014, there also was an increase in visitor spending in surrounding communities, according to a National Park Service report.
Visitors to the only national park in Maine spent $221.8 million during their visits last year, which is $30 million more than visitors to Acadia are estimated to have spent in 2013, federal officials indicated Tuesday in a prepared statement.
The report shows that the estimated $221.8 million in visitor spending is calculated to have supported 3,486 jobs in the surrounding area. The spending is estimated to have generated an additional $50 million in wages for those jobs, the agency added, creating an overall economic benefit in the Acadia region of $271 million.
NPS officials estimate that Acadia had 2.56 million visits in 2014, which is an increase of roughly 300,000 visits from the 2.25 million visits calculated for 2013. Each visit to the park in 2014 generated on average $86.64 in direct spending in towns around the park.
Sheridan Steele, superintendent of Acadia, pointed out that much of that spending comes from outside Maine in the form of tourists from around the United States and from foreign countries.
“We are delighted to share the report describing how national park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy, returning $10 [in visitor spending] for every $1 invested in the National Park Service,” Steele said in Tuesday’s statement. “This is reflected locally in gateway communities that provide amenities and essential services to park visitors.”
Federal officials estimated last year that from 2012 to 2013 Acadia had a decrease of about 170,000 visits, from 2.43 million to 2.25 million, and a resulting decrease of about $9.4 million in visitor spending, from $200.9 million in 2012 to $191.5 million in 2013. The difference has been attributed to the federal government shutdown in the fall of 2013, which resulted in Acadia National Park and other federal facilities nationwide being closed for 16 days during a dispute in Congress over the federal budget.
Some of the park’s visitation and visitor spending estimates for recent years are similar to others earlier this decade.
The agency has estimated Acadia had a total of 2.5 million visits in 2010 that directly generated $186 million to the state’s economy — which amounts to more visits but about $5 million less in estimated visitor spending than in 2013. The following year, in 2011, Acadia had an estimated 2.37 million visits but generated the same amount of visitor spending ($186 million) in Maine as it did in 2010.
Nationally, the peer-reviewed analysis report shows $15.7 billion of direct spending in 2014 by 293 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park, according to the park service. This spending supported 277,000 jobs nationally with a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $29.7 billion.
According to the report, most national park visitor spending was for lodging (30.6 percent) followed by food and beverages (20.3 percent). Visitors also spent money on transportation, gas, admissions and fees, souvenirs, and other expenses.
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