Glacier visitors spent $179 million last year

A new National Park Service report shows that 2.2 million visitors to Glacier National Park last year spent nearly $179 million in communities near the park.

That spending supported 2,824 jobs in the local area.

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists for the National Park Service. The report shows $14.6 billion of direct spending by 273.6 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported more than 237,000 jobs nationally, with more than 197,000 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $26.5 billion.

According to the 2013 economic analysis, most visitor spending was for lodging (30.3 percent) followed by food and beverages (27.3 percent), gas and oil (12.1 percent), admissions and fees (10.3 percent) and souvenirs and other expenses (10 percent).