Smokies spenders pump billions into local economies
A new National Park Service report shows that 13,297,647 visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2023 spent $2.2 billion in communities near the park. That spending supported 33,748 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $3.4 billion.
Parkway visitation, spending grows
Visitors to one of the country’s most unique national park units pumped nearly $1.4 billion into local economies in 2023, continuing a growing trend that has powered rural Western North Carolina’s economy over the past decade.
