Moapa Valley Progress
Lake Mead National Recreation Area (NRA) is still considered one of the most popular destinations among all of the spots managed by the National Park Service nationwide. According to a study released by the Park Service last week, Lake Mead ranks among the top 10 nationwide in both overall visitation and in visitor spending in surrounding communities.
The study ranked each destination against the other 401 units managed by the National Park Service. The report showed that, in 2013, Lake Mead NRA ranked sixth in the nation for overall recreational visits; with a total of 6.3 million annual visitors. It was barely edged out of the number five spot by the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC which had 6.5 million visitors last year.
According to the report, the park unit with the top total visitation in the nation for 2013 was Golden Gate National Recreation Area near San Francisco which had 14.2 million visitors. The Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia came in second with 12.8 million visitors. Next was Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee which had 9.3 million visitors. In fourth place was the George Washington Parkway near Washington, DC with 7.3 million visitors last year.
In the category of visitor spending, Lake Mead ranked in ninth place nationwide with its visitors spending $260 million in communities within 60 miles of the park. This represented an $8 million increase compared to 2012. Spending statistics for individual communities surrounding the parks was not included in the study.
Visitor spending at Lake Mead National Recreation Area supported 2,905 regional jobs, according to the study.
“This is impressive news for our local communities,” said Lake Mead NRA Park Superintendent Bill Dickinson. “It shows that despite lowering lake levels and a 16-day government shutdown, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, continues to be a premier recreation destination and a critical economic engine for our gateway communities and partners.”
According to the report, Blue Ridge Parkway was the top unit in the country for visitor spending with a total of $783 million last year. Great Smokey Mountain came in second at $734 million. Denali National Park in Alaska took the third spot at $513 million. Next was Grand Canyon National Park at $476 million, and Grand Teton National Park at $463 million. Yellowstone National Park was ranked 6th with $382 million; and Yosemite National Park was 7th at $373 million. Golden Gate NRA was ranked at 8th bringing $335 million in spending. Coming just behind Lake Mead in the #10 spot was Olympic National Park in Washington state with $245 million in visitor spending.
Nationwide, the report shows that 273.6 million national park visitors spent $14.6 billion in nearby communities. The ripple effect of visitor spending provided a $26.5 billion benefit to the U.S. economy and supported 237,000 jobs.
According to the 2013 economic analysis, most visitor spending was for lodging (30.3 percent) followed by food and beverages (27.3 percent), gas and oil (12.1 percent), admissions and fees (10.3 percent) and souvenirs and other expenses (10 percent).
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz for the National Park Service.
