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Arizona is 7th in nation for national park visitor spending

Visitors crowd together on a fenced cliff edge, with the rosy and purple layers of the Grand Canyon in the background
NPS Photo
Mather Point

A new economic assessment from the National Park Service shows Arizona ranks seventh in the nation for the amount of money spent by visitors who come to see national parks and monuments.

Visitor spending dropped sharply in 2020 during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but has since rebounded to more $26 billion nationwide.

Arizona last year had nearly 11 million park visitors, who spent more than 1 billion dollars in gateway communities like Flagstaff, Williams, and Tusayan.

That falls just short of pre-pandemic levels.

Grand Canyon National Park alone accounts for three-quarters of visitor spending in Arizona and supports more than 10,000 jobs.

“We’re excited to see how the Grand Canyon continues to drive economic growth in our local communities,” said Grand Canyon Superintendent Ed Keable in a statement. “The spending by our visitors not only underscores the park’s allure but also highlights its vital role in supporting jobs and boosting the regional economy.”

About half of visitor dollars go to hotels and restaurants. Retail, gas, transportation, groceries, and other expenses make up the remainder.

Explore the interactive data on the National Park website.

Melissa joined KNAU's team in 2015 to report on science, health, and the environment. Her work has appeared nationally on NPR and been featured on Science Friday. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she fell in love with the ecology and geology of the Sonoran desert.