Local economies in northern Arizona boosted by national park visitor spending

Communities in northern Arizona benefit from their proximity to national parks and monuments through economic boosts from visitor spending, according to a report from the National Park Service.

The agency recently released its annual report on the effects of visitor spending at National Park Service sites across the country, highlighting the economic impacts on the areas outside of park or monument boundaries.

"Gateway" communities — as they are described by the National Park Service — surround National Park Service sites and include the cities and towns where visitors often stay and spend money during their park visit.

The park service measures economic impacts including the number of jobs supported by park visitor spending, economic output — "the total estimated value of the production of goods and services supported" by park visitor spending — and "value added," which measures the contribution of national park visitor spending to the gross domestic product of a regional economy.

Here's more information on the local economic effects of the five National Park Service sites in northern Arizona that saw the greatest visitor spending in 2022.

Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona's largest national park contributor to nearby economies is Grand Canyon National Park, where 4.7 million visitors in 2022 spent an estimated $759 million locally during their visits.

The park's gateway communities include Tusayan, Williams and Cameron.

Spending was up $49 million from 2021 and up nearly $330 million from 2020, when visitor numbers were cut significantly because of COVID-19. But the park is still almost $200 million short of its highest recorded visitor spending, $947 million, in 2018.

Local lodging saw a boost from park visitors of around $260 million. Roughly $135 million and $126 million were spent on local recreation and restaurants, respectively.

Park visitor spending supported a total of 9,990 local jobs and $346 million in labor income. The value added to the region's GDP was calculated at $576 million. Grand Canyon gateway communities also saw $1 billion in economic output.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

The Lake Mead National Recreation Area along the Arizona-Nevada border is one of the most popular vacation spots in Mohave County. More than 5.6 million visitors spent an estimated $280 million in Lake Mead's gateway communities in 2022.

This is a marked decrease in visitor spending from 2021, which reached $374 million, the peak spending for the area over the last decade.

This spending supported 3,020 jobs resulting in $126 million spent on labor income. The park service determined the value added to these gateway communities at $211 million.

In addition to Arizona's gateway communities like Bullhead City, Dolan Springs and Kingman a bit farther south, communities in Nevada like Boulder City and Laughlin also benefit from the spending of Lake Mead visitors. The economic output for this region was reported to be $343 million.

Petrified National Forest

Just over a half-million visitors visited the Petrified National Forest in northeastern Arizona in 2022, spending an estimated $36.8 million in local gateway communities in Apache County, including Holbrook and Joseph City.

Spending on lodging ($12.4 million), restaurants ($7.3 million) and gas ($6.3 million) comprised 70% of all money spent by visitors in the areas around the park.

This visitor spending in turn supported 434 jobs which generated $14 million in labor income. The park service determined the spending also resulted in $23.6 million in value added and generated $42.1 million in local economic output.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Home to the 800-foot-tall Spider Rock spire and the remains of multiple ancient Puebloan villages, the vast Canyon de Chelly National Monument saw 355,000 visitors in 2022. These visitors spent an estimated $27 million in nearby gateway communities during their time in northeastern Arizona, more than double what was spent the previous year.

Chinle is the primary gateway community to Canyon de Chelly. It is located at the tip of the park's western edge, off of U.S. 191.

Tsaile, home of Diné College, sits to the northwest of the monument's boundary. Sawmill is to the southwest. These two communities are on routes for visitors going to or leaving the park via New Mexico.

Visitor spending directly supported 352 jobs, generating $9.3 million in labor income as a result, according to the National Park Service report. The agency estimated that visitor spending generated $16.6 million in value added and resulted in $31.9 million in local economic output.

Montezuma Castle National Monument

The Montezuma Castle National Monument welcomed 364,000 people last year who spent an estimated $24 million in local gateway regions.

Montezuma Castle is just north of Camp Verde off of I-17, making it an easy stop for people driving through the Verde Valley. Other towns in the area, including Verde Village, Cottonwood and Clarkdale to the northeast, and Sedona a bit farther to the northwest, also likely benefit from some of this spending.

A total of 327 jobs were directly supported through this spending, generating $12.9 million in labor income for the area. Spending around the national monument resulted in an estimated $21.4 million in value added and $36.7 million in economic output in local gateway communities, according to park service data.

Reach the reporter at LLatch@gannett.com.

The Republic’s coverage of northern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. To support regional Arizona news coverage like this, make a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: National park visitors spent millions in northern Arizona in 2022