Tourism to the Blue Ridge Parkway creates $1.3 billion in economic benefits for 2021

Ryley Ober, Asheville Citizen Times
·4 min read

The Switzerland Inn sits nestled in the mountains directly on the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 50 miles from the heart of downtown Asheville.

Founded in 1910, the inn’s doors were open to visitors 16 years before the famed  parkway was completed.

Now, Jordan Gowan, who owns the inn alongside her husband, says her business wouldn’t survive without the scenic roadway.

“The parkway is pretty much our lifeline, really,” said Gowan, who took over the inn from her dad, Gary Jenson Jr, who purchased the business from his dad, Gary Jenson Sr, who bought the property in 1983. “It’s the reason we are here.”

On June 28, the National Park Service released visitor economic impact numbers for 2021, based on a peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis conducted by economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.

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Nationwide, within 60 miles of a national park, more than 297 million total visitors spent $20.5 billion, supporting 322,600 jobs.

The Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were the two most visited places in the National Park System in 2021, according to the NPS. At 16 million visitors, the parkway tops the list, with the Smokies taking the second-most visited spot at 14.2 million people.

The parkway runs 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, passes directly through Asheville, and ends at the entrance to the Smokies in Cherokee.

While visiting the Blue Ridge Parkway, these 16 million park visitors spent an estimated $1.3 billion in local gateway regions, up from $1.1 billion spent in both 2020 and 2019. These expenditures supported 17,900 jobs and produced $1.7 billion in economic output for local economies surrounding the parkway.

The Blue Ridge Parkway was the most visited place in the National Park System in 2021, bringing $1.3 billion to local regions, according to the National park Service.
The Blue Ridge Parkway was the most visited place in the National Park System in 2021, bringing $1.3 billion to local regions, according to the National park Service.

“For generations, the Parkway has attracted millions of visitors who enjoy both the natural beauty and cultural heritage of our region, while contributing positively to the economy in our surrounding communities,” Tracy Swartout, the parkway’s superintendent, said in a press release.

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“As our country moves through the varied impacts resulting from the pandemic, we are grateful that the Parkway continues to serve as a touchstone, reconnecting people with inspiring places of deep significance, while also supporting economic resiliency and vitality for local communities moving forward.”  

The Blue Ridge Parkway was the most visited place in the National Park System in 2021, bringing $1.3 billion to local regions, according to the National park Service.
The Blue Ridge Parkway was the most visited place in the National Park System in 2021, bringing $1.3 billion to local regions, according to the National park Service.

The Smokies —  a half-million acres of rugged, mountainous terrain on the Western North Carolina-Eastern Tennessee border — also saw more visitor spending in 2021, with 14.2 million visitors spending an estimated $1.3 billion, compared to $1 billion and $1.1 billion in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

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The businesses that saw the biggest benefit from visitor spending were lodgings and restaurants. Visitors to the parkway and the Smokies spent a combined $978 million on lodging and $519 million on restaurants, supporting 9,600 and 7,550 jobs, respectively.

Lodging accounted for almost 44%, or $560 million, of spending by parkway visitors.

Gowan estimates that over 75% of their lodging guests were visitors coming off or visiting the parkway. For the Switzerland Inn, 2020 and 2021 were some of the busiest years on the books.

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The Blue Ridge Parkway was the most visited place in the National Park System in 2021, bringing $1.3 billion to local regions, according to the National park Service.
The Blue Ridge Parkway was the most visited place in the National Park System in 2021, bringing $1.3 billion to local regions, according to the National park Service.

"For us, once we were able to open in 2020 ... it was one of the busiest years we’ve ever had on record,” Gowan said. “Since there was no international travel, everyone was staying domestic and just going places they could drive to and rural places where they could be outside. (Last year) was even bigger than 2020 because everyone was doing virtual school and working from home, so that helped us out a lot.”

Gowen attributes much of the success of her business, and other businesses along the Blue Ridge, to the parkway and its visitors.

“The parkway is a big reason that a lot of these businesses are up here,” Gowan said. “I feel like a lot of the surrounding towns don’t take advantage of it like they should. But it has so many visitors, it's wonderful for us. When (the parkway) had a closure back in ‘08, we could definitely tell – it slows us down a lot.”

Ryley Ober is a news intern with the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. News tips? Email her at ROber@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Blue Ridge Parkway tourism creates $1.3 billion in economic benefits