Pictured Rocks brings in $45.7M in local tourism dollars

MUNISING, MI -- The nearly 1 million visitors who came to Pictured Rocks last year spent more than $45 million, according to a new National Park Service report.

The report estimates $45,770,000 was spent in communities near the park after 910,939 people visited Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in 2023.

That spending supported 544 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $48,685,000, according to NPS.

“People come to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to learn, relax, and experience the beauty of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula - and end up supporting the US and local economies along the way,” said Superintendent David Horne.

In Michigan, 2.8 million park visitors spent an estimated $273 million in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands throughout the state, according to NPS.

Across the country, national parks welcomed 325.5 million visitors in 2023.

Those visitors spent $26.4 billion in communities near national parks, according to NPS’ 2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects report.

“I’m so proud that our parks and the stories we tell make a lasting impact on more than 300 million visitors a year,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “And I’m just as proud to see those visitors making positive impacts of their own, by supporting local economies and jobs in every state in the country.”

Nationally, tourism spending supported 415,400 jobs, provided $19.4 billion in labor income and $55.6 in economic output to the U.S. economy, according to NPS.

The lodging sector had the highest direct contributions with $9.9 billion in economic output and 89,200 jobs. The restaurants received the next greatest direct contributions with $5.2 billion in economic output and 68,600 jobs.