Nearly 1.6 million visitors came to Joshua Tree National Park in 2014, and visitor numbers have been steadily increasing for the last 8 months, according to a report released yesterday by the National Park Service. While the percentage of increases in visitors in July and August 2014 were in the single digits compared to the same months in 2013, visitation increased a whopping 141 percent in October 2014—due to the fact that Joshua Tree National Park was closed for two weeks in 2013 because of the sequestration. But if the number of visitors to Joshua Tree National Park in October 2014 is compared to the number of visitors in October 2012, the increase is only 26 percent, which is in line with the 25 percent increase in September 2014, compared to 2013.
Since November 2014, the percentage of monthly visitors has increased every month at an astounding rate: between 31 percent and 67 percent, compared to the figures from the previous year.
And all those visitors bring money to spend. The park service estimates that in 2014, visitors to Joshua Tree National Park spent nearly $74 million in the gateway communities—with the most dollars being spent on lodging, followed closely by restaurants and bars, and then gas, admission and fees, souvenirs, local transportation, groceries, and camping fees. In addition, visitor spending indirectly contributes another $97 million dollars to the local economies, according to the NPS report.
And finally, the park service’s report states that visitor spending directly supports more than 1,000 jobs in the surrounding communities.
The link to the 2014 National Park Visitor Spending Effects can be found with this story at z1077fm.com.
http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/docs/VSE2014_Final.pdf
1.6 MILLION VISITORS SPENT $74 MILLION WHEN THEY VISITED JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK LAST YEAR
