Visitors to Hawaii’s national parks pumped more than $252M into our local economy in 2010.
That’s according to a report released today by the National Park Service for the most recent year figures are available.
There are eight national parks in our state, and no doubt they attract a lot of visitors.
1.3M people visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island in 2010.
That’s about a hundred thousand more than the year before.
"We have the most continuously active volcano in the world, and of course the most active volcano in the National Park Service. So people come to this island and they come to the park," said Cindy Orlando, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
And all those park guests pumped about $88M into our economy — money that was spent on lodging, food, retail, entertainment activities, gas and transportation.
Hawaii has eight national parks, with Hawaii Volcanoes, Haleakala on Maui, and World War II Valor in the Pacific at Pearl Harbor bringing in the most money.
"Not only are these places spectacular and meaningful to visit but they’re economic engines. They power businesses, they create jobs, real jobs and economic growth in our local communities," said Orlando.
According to the National Park Service report, almost 4.5M people visited Hawaii’s national parks in 2010, which generated more than $252M, and that helped support nearly 3200 jobs.
Jobs like tour guides who take visitors down Haleakala by bicycle.
Haleakala National Park alone had more than a million visitors in 2010.
"About half of the visitation to the summit area is to see the sunrise, and the other half is distributed throughout the rest of the day," said Leslie Young, Haleakala National Park.
"Visitation is coming back. So we really do contribute not only locally but nationally to economic growth," said Orlando.
As a whole, national park visitors across the country poured more than $31B into local economies in 2010.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
