Tourism to Thomas Edison NHP creates $3.4 million in economic benefit

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A new National Park Service report shows that 57.7 thousand visitors to Thomas Edison National Historical Park in 2016 spent $3.4 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 44 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $4.7 million.

“Thomas Edison NHP welcomes visitors from across the country and around the world,” Superintendent Thomas E. Ross said in a press release. “We are delighted to share the story of this place and the experiences it provides. National park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy, returning $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service. We appreciate our West Orange community partnerships and are glad to help support the local economy along the downtown Main Street corridor and beyond.”

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koonz of the National Park Service. The report shows $18.4 billion of direct spending by 331 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 318,000 jobs nationally, with 271,544 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $34.9 billion.

  Thomas Edison NHP