SHENANDOAH, VA (Rocktown Now) — A new report reveals the financial impact tourism to Shenandoah National Park has on surrounding localities.

The National Park Service’s “Visitor Spending Effects” report for 2024 shows that 1.7-million park visitors spent over 130-million dollars in communities near the park, creating a cumulative benefit to the local economy of 175-million dollars.

Nationally, the report found that visitors spent 29-billion dollars in communities near national parks, providing 19-billion dollars in labor income and 56-billion dollars in economic output to the overall U-S economy.

The two highest direct contributors to economic output noted in the report were the lodging sector at 11-billion dollars for the year and restaurants at nearly 6-billion.