As the government shutdown continues, visitors to national parks are finding some remain accessible but with limited services. This could lead to some visitors changing their plans which may have a significant impact on local communities that depend on visitor spending.
Gateway communities are towns or cities that are near national parks and provide essential services and amenities such as restaurants and lodging. Last year, more than 300 million visitors to national parks spent an estimated $29 billion in gateway communities. Several Mountain West states are home to some of the most visited parks in the country.
Boulder City, Nevada is a gateway for travelers visiting Lake Meade and parks in Arizona and Utah. Jill Lagan, the CEO of the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, said parks may be the main draw but the experience is highly dependent on the hotels, restaurants and other services in gateway communities.
“You want to leave the area with the thought process that man, there was so much to do there. We’ve got to go back.’. And that happens because of a bigger, broader, positive experience. And that happens from having the partnership that we do with our national parks.”
Visitor spending consisted of $11 billion directly for lodging. Restaurants received the next greatest direct infusion with $5.7 billion in economic output. The National Park Service says, nationally visitors contributed $56 billion dollars to the national economy.
“Those gateway communities become essential to the success of the national park system and what those parks have to offer,” said Lagan.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Nevada Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
