(BIVN) – A new National Park Service report shows the local economic impact of spending by visitors to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

The 2024 Visitor Spending Effects analysis shows 1,433,593 visitors to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park in 2024 spent $445 million in communities near the park. The NPS says that spending had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $571 million, and supported a total of 3,605 jobs.

“People come to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park to experience active volcanism, its plants and animals, and the Hawaiian culture, and as a result, visitors support and spend money in local communities,” said Superintendent Rhonda Loh in a news release. “We mahalo the communities and the visitor industry who in turn support the park and our visitors.”

The NPS highlighted this additional information:

• About 80% of visitors stayed overnight in local area lodging and spent an average of $763 per group per night.
• On average, visitors who stayed in local area accommodations (lodging, camping, or staying in unpaid lodging with family/friends) spent 6.4 nights on the Island of Hawai’i.
• Approximately 24% of all overnight visitors indicated Hawai’i Volcanoes NP was the primary reason for their trip to the Island of Hawai’i.

The news release included this information about the impacts National Parks have on local economies across the United States:

The National Park Service report, 2024 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, finds that visitors spent $29 billion in communities near national parks. This spending provided $18.8 billion in labor income and $56.3 in economic output to the U.S. economy. The lodging sector had the highest direct contributions with $11.1 billion in economic output. Restaurants received the next greatest direct contributions with $5.7 billion in economic output.