MEDIA RELEASE

A new National Park Service report shows 1,304,667 visitors in 2010 spent $88,258,000 in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and in communities near the park. That spending supported 1,162 jobs in the local area.

“Communities near national parks have always understood their positive fiscal impact,” Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said. “Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the most popular destination on the island of Hawaii and one of the most visited attractions statewide, is vital to the economic well-being both of our island and state economies.”

In 2011, an estimated 1,352,122 people visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, an increase of 3.6 percent from 2010.

Most of the 2010 spending/jobs are related to lodging, food, and beverage service (52 percent) followed by other retail (29 percent), entertainment/amusements (10 percent), gas and local transportation (7 percent) and groceries (2 percent).

Statewide, national park visitors in 2010 spent more than $252 million in communities near national parks and supported 3,420 jobs.

The national parks in Hawaii included in this study are: Haleakala National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Kaloko-Honokohua National Historical Park, Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site, and World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.

The figures are based on $12 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in 394 national parks and nearby communities and are included in an annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service.

The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.

“The people and the business owners in communities near national parks have always known their economic value,” NPS Pacific West Regional Director Chris Lehnertz said. “In Hawaii communities, national parks are clean, green fuel for the engine that drives the economy.”

Across the U.S, local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009.

To download the report, visit www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/products.cfm#MGM and click on Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010.

For more information on how the NPS is working in Hawaii, visit: www.nps.gov/hawaii