Study finds State Parks bring in $57.63 per visit to local economy

06/08/09

Preliminary findings from a recent Sacramento State survey found that visitors to California’s state parks spend an average of $4.32 billion per year in park-related expenditures, based on attendance estimates by state Parks and Recreation of about 74.9 million visitors a year.

The survey, commissioned and funded by the California Parks and Recreation Department and conducted by the University’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration, found that park visitors spend an average of $57.63 per visit, including $24.63 inside state parks and $33 outside.

Faculty and students from Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration surveyed 9,700 visitors at 27 state parks representing the diversity of the parks system’s 280 parks. The survey was taken from fall 2007 to February 2009.

Of the visitors surveyed, 11.95 percent were non-residents of California, and their average spending per person was $184.91. Based on the calculated $4.32 billion in park-related visitor expenditures per year, $1.66 billion is generated by non-residents of California.