A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 6,201 visitors to Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in 2021 spent $430,000 in communities near the park. That spending supported 5 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $404,000. 

“National parks are a vital part of our nation’s economy, especially for park gateway communities where millions of visitors each year find a place to sleep and eat, hire outfitters and guides and make use of other local services that help drive a vibrant tourism and outdoor recreation industry,” said Superintendent Janet Frederick. “At Sand Creek Massacre, we are excited to share the story of this place and the experiences it provides. We also feature the park to introduce our visitors to this part of the country and all that it offers.” 

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. The report shows $20.5 billion of direct spending by more than 297 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 322,600 jobs nationally; 269,900 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $42.5 billion.  

Report authors also produced an interactive tool that enables users to explore visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value added, and output effects by sector for national, state, and local economies. Users can also view year-by-year trend data. The interactive tool and report are available at the NPS Social Science Program webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm