National parks tourism in Utah contributed $3.1 billion to state economy in 2024

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — According to a National Parks Service report, tourism from 15.8 million visitors to Utah’s national parks had a total benefit of $3.1 billion to the state economy.

The National Park Service (NPS) released the 2024 National Park Visitor Spending Effects report, which analyzed the economic impact of tourism to national parks on the surrounding communities.

In Utah, 15.8 visitors to national parks directly spent $2 billion in the state of Utah in 2024, which cumulatively added $3.1 billion to the state economy. $1.4 billion came from secondary or indirect effects, such as when businesses buy supplies and services from other vendors.

The report found that nationally, visitors spent $29 billion in communities near national parks, and national parks tourism supported 340,000 jobs across the country. Most of those jobs are in hotels/lodging and restaurants, but a large percentage of jobs also come from secondary effects.

In Utah, national parks tourism supported 21,500 jobs in 2024. Similar to national trends, the majority of those jobs are in lodging and restaurants, with about 7,000 jobs coming from secondary effects.

Hotels and lodging contributed $840 million to the Utah economy in 2024, and restaurants contributed $329 million.

Below is a list of how much each national park and national monument in Utah contributed to the economy in 2024.

• Arches: $312.122 million
• Bryce Canyon: $270.134 million
• Canyonlands: $125.599 million
• Capitol Reef: $141.624 million
• Cedar Breaks: $67.180 million
• Dinosaur: $26.115 million
• Glen Canyon: $634.245 million
• Golden Spike: $5.294 million
• Hovenweep: $2.792 million
• Natural Bridges: $6.219 million
• Rainbow Bridge: $1.423 million
• Timpanogos Cave: $11.847 million
• Zion National Park: $1.048 billion

You can access the full report and an interactive tool on the NPS website here.