Abstract
PurposeNational Park Service (NPS) units generate a significant economic impact for states and local gateway communities across the USA. Utah is home to 13 NPS units with visitation accounting for 18% of the state's US$9.75bn tourism economy in 2018. Twelve NPS units, including five national parks, are located in Southern Utah, driving an economy that is heavily dependent on tourism. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities for visits to national parks post-COVID-19, generally and in the specific context of Southern Utah. Although the assumption is that visits to national parks will recover quickly, this paper will critically examine how visitation may change and what adaptive measures and alternative forms of unit management may be necessary.Design/methodology/approachBy adopting a holistic-inductive paradigm, this paper utilizes a descriptive case study approach. Data were collected across a variety of mediums focusing on interviews with key stakeholders in and around Southern Utah.FindingsThe results from this study highlight the various challenges faced in parks and gateway communities vis-à-vis changing patterns of visitation, adaptive measures and alternative forms of unit management necessary due to COVID-19 and their impact on the future management and marketing of national parks for touristic purposes.Originality/valueThis paper examines the impacts of COVID-19 on an often-neglected yet significant area within tourism, yielding implications for industry, visitors and destination communities.
Highlights
1.1 The National Park Service and its economic impact The National Park Service (NPS) was created in 1916 with the directive to “promote and regulate the use of Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations . . . which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations” (Dilsaver, 1994, n.p.)
Twelve of the NPS units, including all five national parks, marketed by the Utah Office of Tourism as “the Mighty Five” (VisitUtah, n.d.), are located in Southern Utah, driving an economy that is heavily dependent on tourism stemming from national park recreation (Figure 1)
3.1 The case study This study lends itself to a case study approach, a local knowledge case wherein key stakeholders within the Southern Utah region were interviewed along with an analysis of publicly available information from local news sources and NPS data (Creswell, 2003)
Summary
1.1 The National Park Service and its economic impact The National Park Service (NPS) was created in 1916 with the directive to “promote and regulate the use of Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations . . . which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations” (Dilsaver, 1994, n.p.).© A.J. 1.1 The National Park Service and its economic impact The National Park Service (NPS) was created in 1916 with the directive to “promote and regulate the use of Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations . Which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations” (Dilsaver, 1994, n.p.). © A.J. Templeton, Kelly Goonan and Alan Fyall. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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