The National Park Service has released a report showing that 1.4 million visitors to Hot Springs National Park in 2014 spent $87.6 million in the community, supporting 1,422 jobs in the area, with a cumulative benefit of nearly $111.4 million to the local economy.
According to a news release, the peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and National Park Service economist Lynne Koontz.
The report, released last week, shows $15.7 billion of direct spending nationally by 292.8 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. The spending supported 277,000 jobs nationally with a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $29.7 billion.
According to the 2014 report, most park visitor spending was for lodging, at 30.6 percent, followed by food and beverages, travel, admissions and fees, and souvenirs and other expenses.
Hot Springs National Park Superintendent Josie Fernandez said the park welcomes a wide variety of visitors from around the world and that workers are “delighted to share the story of this place and the experiences it provides.”
“We also feature the park as a way to introduce our visitors to this part of the country and all that it offers,” she said in the release. “National park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy, returning $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service, and it’s a big factor in our local economy as well. We appreciate the partnership and support of our neighbors and are glad to be able to give back by helping to sustain local communities.”
Fernandez has previously said the system being used to count visitation to Hot Springs National Park, which was put in place during the 1989 opening of the Fordyce Bath House, is dated and that the Park Service is working to better track those numbers.
“What we have become aware of is the fact that the counters that were put in place in front of the Fordyce in 1989 are only counting those visitors,” Fernandez said. “What has happened, particularly in the last 11 years, is that visitors can now come to any of the bathhouses, or spend the afternoon on the Arlington Lawn. And it’s those visitors that aren’t being counted.”
Fernandez said the park has been working closely with a “number-crunching team” at the National Park Service’s Washington, D.C., office to determine the feasibility of adding more counters and where to place them for more accurate representations.
“We’re wanting to strategically place them along Bathhouse Row,” she said. “And we are even going to place them along our trails, because how many people just visit our beautiful hiking trails? By adding these along the way, we will capture the numbers we’re needing.”
The numbers will help to better estimate the effect the national park has on the surrounding community, she said.
“The fact that a park exists and thrives in our community is good news for the community,” Fernandez said. “And for that, the community should hold a special interest in our park because, whether a person works in the park, near the park or in Hot Springs, they are impacted by our visitors.
“If you look at other national parks across the state, while they may have the land mass and acreage, all signs still point to Hot Springs National Park as the No. 1 tourist destination in Arkansas.”